El Salvador survives five setter against Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, December 12, 2017.- El Salvador survived a five set thriller to hosts Nicaragua 3-2 (27-29, 25-17, 25-17, 16-25, 16-14) on the conclusion of day three of the men’s Volleyball tournament at the XI Central American Games Managua 2017 being held at Alexis Argüello sport complex.

El Salvador grabbed a thrilling victory on impressive 17-6 advantage in blocking to stop Nicaragua’s powerful spikers. The excitement started from the first point with the home fans cheering up to the end, watching their team press hard to reach the tie-breaker.

El Salvador remained solid despite the fact that Francisco Hernandez couldn’t play set five due to a minor ankle injury.

El Salvador also led in spikes by 64-50, while both squads scored on 7 aces. El Salvador limited their errors to 21 points and benefited on 39 Nicaraguan errors.

Rodrigo Chavez and Carlos Rodriguez scored 18 points apiece for the winning side, alongside Erick Menjivar with 17 points and Carlos Escobar with 15 points. Nicaragua leading scorers were Byron Hernandez with 15 points, Tito Valdivia with 13 points and Kevin Duarte with 12 points. 

El Salvador stands with 2-0 win-loss record and 8 points, while Nicaragua has 1-2 record and 6 points.

On day four of competition El Salvador (2-0) faces Belize (0-2) and Nicaragua has the day off.

Coach of El Salvador Nery Henriquez: “We studied Nicaragua and we thought we could win in straight sets; they took us by surprise and it was a well fought battle. Osman did changes in his line-up, he used Tito who always puts us in difficulties and the fans were amazing. The important thing is that we add a win because all the matches have finished very close”.

Captain of El Salvador Rodrigo Chavez: “This was stressful and intense, volleyball is an exciting sport; the balance could have moved either way. We weren’t expecting such high level from Nicaragua and that they could press us like they did. Our team effort and following instructions helped us finish on top”.