Nicaragua breaks ice on day-3 of the U 23 Men’s Central American Cup – Volleyball News
After receiving two defeats in first two matches of Group B of the Under 23 Men’s Central American Cup, Nicaragua finally managed to clinch success in the third match against El Salvador.
The Jorge Galeano competition hall in Tegucigalpa, Honduras was the home of action, where 200 spectators showed up. Nicaragua secured the opening two sets by sending 25-20 and 25-23 on board. El Salvador fought back and claimed the third set with two points,
25-23. It seemed as if ES was back in the game, but Nicaragua crushed the opponent in fourth set (25-17) and settled for match victory.
Lester Martinez of Nicaragua displayed an incredible action on the centre court and helped his team with match-high 17 points. He was followed by teammates Arnaldo Castro and Just Montano, who added 12 points apiece. Omar Guadamuz also had his share of 11
points.
Rodrigo Chavez and Erick Gonzalez fought for El Salvador. They added 13 and 11 points, in the failing effort.
Nicaragua opened up the first set in a moderate way and the players spent some time on the court, in order to settle down in their positions. In the meanwhile Salvadorians played fast and went up on the scoreboard. Gradually, Nicaragua paced things with
powerful serves and convincing attack attempts. The consistency in attack and solid defence enabled Nicaragua to push the opponent behind. El Salvador tried to resist, but could not avoid the loss of first set.
In the second set, Nicaragua was in better position to put pressure on ES. Nonetheless, the raged-up Salvador squad threw everything in attack and fought bravely. Nicaragua, on the other hand, brought more ferocity in attack and clipped second frame, 25-23.
Following the loss of two sets in a row, Salvador managed to claw its ways back in the game in third set. Nicaragua was in shape to end the affair in third set, but dropped the set with a narrow gap, 23-25.
Nicaragua gave the final shot in fourth set and claimed the final set, which led the team to first win in the U 23 Men’s Central American Cup.
The Salvadorian skipper Franklin Flores shared his views after the match. He stated: “At first we dominated the forward, we had many flaws, Nicaragua took a good lead in the first set and I did not know beyond that.”
Likewise, the coach of his team Nery Henriquez said: “We rely too much, do not think that Nicaragua was going to play like we did, they did not have much to gain and we should, we will fight for fifth place.”
However, the winning Coach Lester Martinez was more than happy about the success of his team. He said they were regarded as a rookie in the competition and very much wanted to save this game.
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