Trinidad & Tobago claim fifth place

HAVANA, Cuba, October 10, 2014 – Trinidad and Tobago won the fifth place by defeating El Salvador 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19) in the opening match of the closing day of the II U23 Men’s Pan American Cup at the Coliseum of the Sports City.

With the victory, the Trinidadians ended with two wins and four defeats after a match where once again their leader Brandon Legall was the top scorer (21), very well supported today by the opposite hitter Nicholas Prescott (16) and the outside hitter Marlon Phillip (11).

El Salvador trailed in spikes (26-50) but had the same total in blocks (8-8) and services (5-5) and made fewer errors than the winners (34-44), while their opposite hitter Mario Rivas (13) and the outside hitter Armando Guatemala (11) were the only players who had double digits.

Gideon Dickson, coach of the Caribbeans, assessed the tournament as excellent, with a high-level. “But Cuban team’s level is superior to the rest. However, if we analyzed it in perspective, the NORCECA’s rank within three years will increase enormously and in our case we will bring back home a great joy for these two last victories.”

Brandon, their captain, expressed: “It was a good match. We were good at pass and reception. I think in general we played well and the victory we attained yesterday against the same rival influenced on it.”

The coach of El Salvador, Ricardo Rivera, commented: “Technically I think we improved, but we do not know to deal with the game when we are on the top, and we annoyed for not being able to tie, reacting too late. The Trinidadians did it very well and we should learn from these six defeats.”

Their captain, Armando Guatemala, said: “In the two first sets we relaxed; then, we came out amusing ourselves and we won. However, in the fourth set a pair of errors sentenced our interest of winning.”