Nicaragua still unbeaten at AFECAVOL U23

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, September 19, 2018.- Nicaragua is still unbeaten at the fourth Men’s U23 AFECAVOL Central American Championship after defeating El Salvador 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19) at Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium in Guatemala City.

Nicaragua has a perfect 3-0 record and 13 ranking points with four days of competition while El Salvador continues to struggle with 0-4 record.

Nicaragua started off slow all three sets while El Salvador kept the scores really close and tied on numerous occasions throughout the actions. It was up to the point 18 when Nicaragua struck harder, pressuring El Salvador with superiority in every skill.

Using all their roster, Nicaragua prevailed with huge advantage in kills 40-26 and a comfortable 7-3 and 7-1 margin in blocks and aces accordingly. Nicaragua committed fewer errors (21-25) than El Salvador.

Opposite player Denis Garcia of Nicaragua led all scorers with 23 points on 20 kills and 3 blocks. Middle blocker Manuel Platero led El Salvador with 7 points followed by outside hitter Josue Palma with 6 points.

On Thursday, Nicaragua (3-0) will meet with defending champions Guatemala (2-0) and El Salvador will rest.

Denis Garcia, captain of Nicaragua and the leading scorer of the match said “we are glad to continue winning to gain more confidence for the tough games ahead, among them against Guatemala. We didn’t allow El Salvador to play with their usual energy and attitude; we counterattacked with strength and fast”.

Osman Hernandez, head coach of Nicaragua explained that their dynamic is to put pressure up to point 18 “before that we play one on one, sometimes on top and sometimes below, that’s our distinctive. This is because we are looking to keep a steady serve and until then we gain distance. It’s crucial to keep our unbeaten record to face Guatemala who’s also undefeated and we hope to put a good show for the fans. Today we used all our players thinking of any eventualities, so everyone has got in action”.

El Salvador’s captain Banner Godoy expressed “we were very close up to the half of each set; we weren’t able to be consistent in our performance. We lost energy and allowed Nicaragua to get in better rhythm. We must put more effort in defense and attacking. This is our fourth loss and we must improve to commit fewer errors”.