Guatemala subdued Honduras in fourth victory

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, December 13, 2017.- Guatemala stayed unbeaten after subduing defending champions Honduras 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 25-17) in their fourth and consecutive victory at the men’s Volleyball tournament of the 2017 Managua Central American Games.

It took Guatemala four sets to prevail with a wide 60-47 margin in kills. The middle part of the match was the most demanding as Honduras pushed on with great rhythm. Guatemala finally remained in control by a change in line-up that executed their game plan with fewer errors.

Guatemala held a 4-1 advantage in blocking and Honduras a 4-3 advantage in aces. Both teams committed 28 unforced errors.

Guatemala has a solid position to finish end in with the gold medal with 4-0 record and 19 points. Honduras has 1-2 record and 5 points.

The match developed with a balanced performance on both teams. Guatemala’s top scorers were Andy Leonardo (15), Wagner Chacon (13) and Erik Flores (10). Watler Brown topped Honduras with 19 points, William Thompson and German Moreira scored 11 and 12 points respectively.

On Thursday, Honduras (1-2) faces Panama (1-3) and Guatemala (4-0) has the day off.

Captain of Guatemala Gerardo Gonzalez: “We started off with good rhythm but we began to serve easily and that gave Honduras more opportunities. We recovered reaching point 20 in set two, but it was too late. We made a notorious line-up change with another setter and we had a variation in our performance. I am willing to play where ever I am needed”.

Head coach of Guatemala Reider Lucas: “My team had many tactical errors that slowed our rhythm and our confidence in the set we lost; that’s why it was so difficult to recover in the last two sets. The outcome is positive, some regular players were less effective and we need to work on our blocking. Our offense is working well and our bench setter has done it well”.