Guatemala wins four in a row

BELIZE CITY, Belize, September 28, 2016. – Guatemala won their fourth match in a row at the AFECAVOL Men’s FIVB World Championship qualification tournament after beating El Salvador 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-20) at St. Catherine Academy Center of Belize City.

Guatemala cracked a spirited El Salvador, who kicked off the actions with a dynamic and strong performance. Guatemala played more comfortably the last set of the match. Both teams were more energetic in the beginning.

Guatemala remains unbeaten (4-0) prevailing over El Salvador (2-2) with 41-33 margin in spikes, 8-7 in blocking and 6-1 in service points. They had similar amount of errors, Guatemala with 21 and El Salvador with 25.

Middle blocker Andy Leonardo led Guatemala’s scorers once again, scoring 15 points, setter Gerardo Paz added 13 points and middle blocker Brando Chinchilla contributed with 10 points. From El Salvador, Rodrigo Chavez scored 12 points and opposite player Franklin Flores chipped in with 11 points.

On Thursday, El Salvador (2-2) will meet with Honduras (1-3) and Guatemala (4-0) plays against Panama (1-3).

Aldo Arias, captain of Guatemala: “Our strategy was to play fast and by the middle, just as we’ve been doing, personally I’m not satisfied and I think Guatemala came short, we didn’t play as expected. El Salvador and Guatemala know each other well, and that’s why we needed to be more effective in the middle. We still have two matches left, nothing is written in sports, we will try winning and hopefully in three sets; Panama and Nicaragua are strong teams and we will do our best to win one of the two tickets”.

Reider Lucas, coach of Guatemala: “We won, but with no disrespect for El Salvador, my team had a low performance; I don’t know if it’s fatigue or too confident for winning yesterday. We will continue to play with our starting line-up in the two matches left, which we hope to put a good show. Guatemala is not qualified to the next round; we need to win what is left”.

Juan Carlos Vargas, of El Salvador: “We lacked enthusiasm and we failed in receiving, we also had tactical errors. We rested yesterday, so we aren’t tired, we needed more energy in the end. We hope to finish among the medalists.

Nery Henriquez, coach of El Salvador: “I have to motivate my players, the score doesn’t reflect what went on the court, I consider my team did a good job and showed to be the best opponent yet against Guatemala; we lost playing strong. We will continue strong up to the end and we don’t lose hopes”.