Trinidad & Tobago win, will play El Salvador for fifth

HAVANA, Cuba, October 9, 2014 – Trinidad and Tobago claimed their first victory by overcoming El Salvador in straight sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-18) and both teams  will meet again for the fifth place of the II U23 Men’s Pan American Cup whose preliminary round of round-robin ends today.

Once again, outside hitter Brandon Legall, was the offensive leader for the Trinidadians with 21 points, as the only player who in this 72-minute match who had points in double-digits. The top-scorer for the Central Americans was the opposite hitter Mauricio Rivas with nine points. 

Gideon Dickson, coach of the Caribbeans, expressed his great joy: “Because we were able to develop a good plan. Although, El Salvador played well considering their height and seize. It was an intense clash. So, winning in the way we did increased my players’ consistency and motivation for the future.”

Their captain, Legall, commented: “Our block favored us (8-3) and it is what we will try to do again tomorrow for the fifth.”

Ricardo Rivera, coach of El Salvador, did not hide his displeasure for their fifth consecutive loss: “It seems like we do not want to win as we failed less than them (24-40), but I recognized we really lost the match.”

Armando Guatemala, the captain of El Salvador admitted they played very weak: “On many occasions we were on the top, but we gave away them the points.”