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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 28, 2015.-
Panama defeated Nicaragua 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 22-25,
15-12) at the opening match of the Men’s U-21 XVI Central
American Championship at Gymnasium Adolfo Pineda of San
Salvador.
Nicaragua slowly took advantage in set one, but Panama
controlled Nicaragua’s offensive over the net with good blocking
and defense for a close win 25-23. Panama began set two with
strong kills and a four point advantage while Nicaragua seemed
out of focus. Nicaragua took advantage of several consecutive
errors by Panama and tied the match winning the set 25-21. Set
three was very tight but Nicaragua managed to extend the match
by winning set four, in which they held a four point advantage
and Panama with serving and blocking reduced to 25-22. The match
continued close with Panama finally winning set five 15-12.
Nicaragua held advantage in kills 56-46, while Panama held a
huge advantage in blocking 16-3. Both were equally effective in
aces 5-5 and had similar unforced errors Panama (43) y Nicaragua
(41).
Panama offense was led by Drayan Bouche, Uriel Batista and Jose
Anguizola with 16 points apiece. Middle Blocker Jonny Zeledon of
Nicaragua led all scorers with 21 points, 20 on kills and one
ace.
“We all did our job, we all contributed y we owe this win to all
our family in Panama” said captain Uriel Batista.
Gabriel Barrios Nicaragua’s captain said “it was a tough match
and Nicaragua never gave up. Dispite Panama’s height we weren’t
intimidated and fought the entire time. We are moving ahead,
this has just begun”.
Panamanian coach Horacio Angulo expressed “after a long time
from missing several events in this age-group and that Nicaragua
has been one of the strongest in the region, we managed to
finish on top especially thru our effective blocking. Nicaragua
is a difficult team to beat, they took advantage of our mental
errors, but we adjusted well to win”.
Osman Hernández coach of Nicaragua said “Roberto Espinosa is the
top scorer of Central America in this category and Panama took
advantage scoring in the middle. We lost many serves. We are
aware that this will be an even event and this is only the
beginning”. |
