MANAGUA, Nicaragua, October 18, 2022.- Nicaragua defeated Panama 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 25-13) in the last match of the first day of the XIX AFECAVOL Men’s U21 Central American Championship.

Evans Solís, with 19 points was Nicaragua’s best scorer, and Victor Cruz added 10 points. For Panama, Víctor Pérez finished with 14 points, David Leon and Emanuel Perez with 12 points each.

Nicaragua was better in serves 5-0, with 3 aces from Solis, crucial at the beginning of the fourth set. Panama led in attacks 37-35 and 15-7 in blocks, but they committed 44 errors against 23 from their opponents.

In the third set, Panama registered 12-8 in attacks and 6-0 in blocks, committing fewer errors (7-8) than in the previous sets, but in the fourth set Nicaragua’s serves were lethal, which in the end made a difference.

Rafael Hernández, captain of Nicaragua: “We hope for more victories like this one, we will continue to work hard to make it happen. In the third set we were too confident, without energy, not wanting to do anything, we lost concentration. In general, we did well, and we’ll improve little by little during the tournament”.

Evans Solís, top scorer of Nicaragua: “It was a tough match, we hope for a more effective result in three sets, but we were too confident. We had problem in receiving, on of the most important elements and we lost energy. Thank God we came out on top, and we are glad, but we hope to do better”.

On Wednesday, Panama will play against Belize at 4:00 p.m. while Nicaragua rests.

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