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GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, November 4, 2021.-
Costa Rica unbeaten will seek the gold medal of
the XXI Men’s Central American Cup after
defeating Belize 3-0 (25-18, 28-26, 25-18) at
Guatemala’s City Dome.
Costa Rica with 5-0 record and 23 points, will
play their last match of the competition against
Guatemala. Belize finishes the event with a 2-4
record and 12 points.
In the second set, Costa Rica recovered from a
four-point deficit (9-13) and won with an
extended and dramatic score, having to
substitute their setter Luis Felipe Alfaro who
needed medical attention due to a leg injury.
Despite Belize’s advantage in attacks 44-40,
Costa Rica was better in blocking with 8-5
margin and 3-0 in serves; also they limited
their errors to 13 points against 27 from
Belize.
Opposite hitter Gilbert Solano alongside outside
hitter José Andrés Ortiz scored 15 and 13 points
respectively for Costa Rica. Belizean Karym
Coleman scored a match-high of 23 points;
Francis Hauze added 14 points.
Luis Felipe, setter of Costa Rica: “I
feel good, I felt a strain in my left knee but
then I was able to play; we must recover well
for tomorrow’s demanding match. Belize got
closer because we committed some receiving and
blocking errors, but we solved them quickly”.
Johan Morales, Head coach of Costa Rica: “I
brought players who’ve been training for a long
time and playing for almost 6 months, they have
my complete trust; Andrés led the team in the
second set and we pushed with or serve”.
Karym Coleman, top scorer of Belize: “I
feel my team could have done better, we didn’t
perform to our ability but at the end of the day
we have to pay attention that most of us weren’t
practicing together. As a unit we can still do
better and build for the future, most are young
players and I think we’re going to come back
stronger the next time”.
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