Panama outduels Honduras in five sets

PANAMA CITY, Panama, August 24, 2014 – Panama had to play five sets for second consecutive night but this time the home team got a victory over Honduras in the last match of day two of the U23 Men’s Central American Championship at Jose “Beto” Remon Gymnasium.

The local team recovered from losing the first two sets to claim the victory 3-2 (25-27, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-13).

Noriel Fuentes and Terry Alvarado each contributed 17 points in the victory while Jose Gonzalez added 14. Emanuel Pitty and Angel Beitía chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Alex Padilla was the best scorer for Honduras with 16 points, followed by William Thompson and Diego Chavez with 16 and 10 points.

Panamanian coach Eric Lucero commented that despite the lack of experience of his junior players, they performed at their best.

Gonzalez, the captain of Panama, said they need to give the best effort in each match and claimed for the support of the fans since they are playing at home and need to enjoy the feeling of playing as hosts.

Rony Martinez, coach of Honduras, didn’t want to say a lot as he was disappointed with some calls by the referees while the captain Cristobal Madriaga gave credit to the Panamanians for playing hard and recovering from a 0-2 score.