Honduras defeats El Salvador with remarkable comeback

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 28, 2015.- Honduras defeated El Salvador with remarkable comeback 3-2 (27-29, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-5) at the Men’s U-21 XVI Central American Championship.

Honduras stands with 5 points and 1-1 record; while El Salvador debuts with a loss and 2 points.

It was a close match in front of a large crowd. In the first set, Honduras was always in the lead while El Salvador managed to tie on multiple occasions. El Salvador finally took advantage in the right moment when Honduras lost three consecutive set points before the 29-27 win for the home team.  Honduras led once again in the second set but El Salvador pulled off the win 25-21 with great defense stopping Honduras intentions in tying the match. El Salvador gave away too many opportunities for Honduras in the third set and they obtained a set 25-21, extending the actions. In the fourth set, the local guys made a lot of errors and Honduras held a six point advantage. El Salvador reduced the distance with good blocking and defending well; Honduras tied winning 25-18. Honduras took total control in the fifth, annulling El Salvador 15-5.

El Salvador’s effectiveness in blocking (11-8) was enough to stop Honduras’ spikes (45-38); also, Honduras scored on El Salvador’s’ 58 errors while committing 48.

Outside Hitter Esdras Panchame of Honduras led with 11 points, followed by Outside Hitter Abner Funez with 9 and Middle Blocker Diego Irias with 8. Rodrigo Sandoval of El Salvador topped the scorers with 14 points and Christopher Zelaya contributed with 13.

Honduras’ captain Alejandro Ávila indicated “El Salvador lost their guard, they came from more to less and we improved as the game developed. We had a lot of energy, fighting each point from start to finish. I believe the referee damaged both sides”.

Coach Marvin Ulloa said works together “I can count on all of my players, the all performed well and responded despite they had a slow beginning. Our serves were effective and our Honduras good physical condition was essential in winning today”.  

Cristian Vargas captain of El Salvador said “we had many technical mistakes, we completely lost concentration; we have some new players. The pressure was too much”.

Coach Ricardo Rivera of El Salvador said “unlike Honduras, we lack physical condition. I knew the match was a tough one and my team had a chain reaction, when one of the players began to fail the others followed. This only shows that winning doesn’t come from knowing how to play but from physical preparation. It was a good game”.