Panama finishes in seventh position

PANAMA CITY, Panama, June 27, 2011 – Panama needed five sets to claim the seventh place by defeating Honduras 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-21 y 15-9) in the U-21 Men’s Volleyball Pan American Cup.

Manuel Gomez and Pablo Quiel with 22 and 18 points respectively were the best Panamanians along with the good blocking by Otto Otton. For Honduras, the captain Jose Vasquez scored 15 points followed by Orestes Hernandez with 14.

Elliott Clark, coach of Panama said they were fortunate because everything went well after a shaky start.

“We failed very few serves and took advantage of their mistakes. That was the key,” Clarke said. He added that the tournament leaves a good experience for the coaching staff, the players, the Federation and the Sport Institute.

Panama’s captain Quiel said it was very important not to finish in last place and after a cold start they were able to heat up in time to win the match.

Evans Torres, the assistant coach of Honduras said it was disappointing to lose against a team of the same level and more age, “but we are satisfied with the close game.”

Honduras’ captain of José Vásquez stated: “We did our best and we are sure we learned from this loss. Soon we will face Panama at the Central American Tournament and the history will be different.”