|
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, November 2, 2021. –
In a thrilling victory, defending champion
Guatemala beat Nicaragua 3-1 (34-32, 22-25,
37-35, 25-20) in the last match of day four of
the XXI Men’s Central American Cup.
A match for the history of the event, where
Guatemala and Nicaragua set a new Central
American record for the set with most points
(37-35); in the same match they had already
broken the record of 32-30 set by El Salvador
and Belize on November 11 of 2018, when they
finished the first set with a 34-32 score.
The first set marked the rhythm of the match as
Guatemala reached set point 24-21 but finished
winning 34-32; not before Nicaragua lost six
opportunities of winning.
Nicaragua was superior evening the scores, but
the home team was not intimidated getting back
in the same rhythm of the first set to finish
the third 37-35 setting a new Central American
record. When everything seemed to be a fourth
set sweep for Guatemala, Nicaragua came back
from a 12 point deficit as Guatemala reached
match points (12-24) for the final 25-20 for the
host team.
Guatemala was superior in attacks by a huge
65-48 margin, while Nicaragua controlled the
blocking 17-13; both teams scored 3 aces.
Guatemala handed out 44 points from unforced
errors, benefiting from 37 Nicaraguan errors.
Outside hitter Gerardo González of Guatemala
scored 24 points, on 15 kills, 7 blocks and 2
aces. Also contributing in Guatemala’s victory
was outside hitter and Captain Carlos López
(17), opposite hitter Andy Leonardo (16) and
middle blocker Jason Hernández (12). With 19
points, opposite Axel Gutiérrez and middle
blocker Emilio Andrews led Nicaragua, followed
by Jonny Zeledon with 12 points and outside
hitter Byron Hernández with 11 points.
On Wednesday, Nicaragua (2-1) will face Costa
Rica (3-0) at 4:00pm and Guatemala (3-0) faces
Belize (2-2) at 7:00pm
Gerardo González, top scorer of Guatemala:
“It was a good match, Nicaragua did pretty well.
I believe we are doing well individually but as
a team we haven’t found our rhythm, but we are
working hard to get there. We are happy with the
victory, no matter how we did it”.
Osman Hernández, Head coach of Nicaragua:
“We proved that Nicaragua was coming for
Guatemala. We have never seen Guatemala scared,
but certain issues during the match influenced
my players’ attitude. Now we have to prepare for
our next match”. |
