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GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, October 22, 2015.- Guatemala won the
Silver Medal of the AFECAVOL Men’s U-19 Central American
Championship defeating Costa Rica 3-1 (12-25, 25-23, 25-21,
25-19) on Thursday at Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium.
Guatemala concluded the competition with 5-1 win-loss record and
23 points, for second place. Costa Rica closes with 4-2 record
and 19 points for third place and the bronze medal.
Costa Rica prevailed over Guatemala with wide 51-39 margin in
spikes and 12-6 in blocking, granting 39 points thru errors.
Guatemala held 3-2 advantage in aces and lost 24 points thru
errors.
Costa Rica managed total control with effective blocking and
solid spiking. The home team lost structure committing errors
and miscommunication; Costa Rica continued to add points and
finished set one with a huge margin. In set two Costa Rica
started strong again to advance with a four point advantage that
Guatemala’s offensive line reduced step by step.
The actions were even with the score tied on numerous occasions,
it wasn’t until Guatemala reached 20-19 to get in front and tied
the match winning set two after losing two set points. In the
third set Costa Rica had the same intensity, with effective
kills the held 12-6 advantage. Guatemala’s efforts in defense
helped recover the deficit, they forced long rallies and tied to
13 points; from there on either one could have won the set;
finally Guatemala was up 2 sets to 1. Guatemala and Costa Rica
remained powerful in set four, en the errors took the best of
them; Guatemala pushed ahead with four point margin but Costa
Rica tied again. The home team managed a comfortable lead 22-16
and making it difficult for Costa Rica.
Captain Andy Rodriguez scored 17 points and setter Edgar
Maldonado 11 points for Guatemala’s victory. Opposite Mariano
Salas with 17 points, outside hitter Jose Ortiz with 14 points
and middle blocker Juan Arrieta with 10 points led Costa Rica.
Coach Alvinzi Pelaez of Guatemala indicated “my team settled, I
let them perform with liberty, I also took the risk in using a
different setter and the team performed well. The players’
connection and the crowd helped us win”.
Coach Cesar Salas of Costa Rica said “our plan went well in the
first set, I’m happy for that. We couldn’t keep the advantage
because of the pressure to perform as well as the crowds’
support, which is something natural in this age-group. It was a
good tournament; we didn’t lose today, it was the loss against
Nicaragua that determined everything. This is a learning
experience, there is much to improve, and we have a lot of
information to grow on for the new generation and continue to be
competitive in the area”. |
