Guatemala and Costa Rica in AFECAVOL U-23 title match

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, July 13, 2012 - Guatemala and Costa Rica will play on Saturday for the Central American ticket to the First U-23 Men’s Pan American Cup to be held in Vancouver, Canada from September 23 to October 1.

In Friday’s semifinals of the U-23 Central American Championship, Guatemala routed Honduras and Costa Rica had to battle to the limit before  putting aside Belize in five sets.

Guatemala arrived to the final with an undefeated record by defeating Honduras 3-0 (25-15, 25-19 y 25-12) in the second semifinal match of the tournament.

Jeyson Flores and Luis García were once again the frontrunners of the Guatemalan attack producing 14 and 10 points respectively while Alex Padilla had 7 points for hosts Honduras.

Flores, captain of Guatemala said: “We went out to play with the same mentality, win the game emphatically, and in tomorrow’s final we are going after the victory the same way we have played.”

Costa Rica reached the final by defeating a fighting Belize 3-2 (20-25, 25-12, 18-25, 25-18 and 15-7) in the first semifinal.

Costa Rica had twice come from behind to beat Belize in a match well played by both sides.

Alberto Blanco was the best attacker of Costa Rica with 28 points, followed by Ricky Vargas who had 17 points. Belize’ attack was spearheaded by the Lino brothers as Ivan and Jaleel finished with 16 and 15 points respectively.

Costa Rica’s captain Javier Álvarez said with excitement: “It was a very difficult match and Belize was a respectable rival. Now we are ready for the finals.”

El Salvador took possession of fifth place by defeating Panama 3-1 (25-11, 21-25, 25-19 and 26-24) in one hour 41 minutes.

Rodrigo Chavez topped El Salvador with 21 points and Panamanians Oswald Marshall and George Almengor finished with 15 and 10 points respectively.

In the other matches on Saturday, Honduras and Belize play for the bronze medal and Panama meet Nicaragua for the sixth position.