United States beat El Salvador, move to semis

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, August 1, 2014 – United States qualified to the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s U-21 Continental Championship with a win 3-0 over El Salvador (25-15, 25-21, 25-18) on Friday.

United States will play in Saturday’s semifinal against Canada. El Salvador will play in Sunday´s match for fifth place against the loser between Puerto Rico and Barbados.

United States topped led El Salvador in kills (39-17), blocks (10-3) and aces (6-1). Opposite player Benjamin Plaisted led the scoring for the winners with 15 points and Storm Faagata-Tufuga added 11. El Salvador´s captain Samuel Valdez scored 9 and Mauricio Rivas had six.

Quotes

Sorem Kindem, United States’ Captain: "I'm used to playing with all my teammates. I know them so we have no problems. Tomorrow we will play very strong. We know the opponent is a tough one."

Daniel Friend, United States’ Coach: "When we assembled the team we looked for players we could use at all times. That’s why we rotate the players, thinking that we have strong match against Canada tomorrow. El Salvador is a good team and we had to work hard."

Samuel Valdez, El Salvador’s Captain: "Our first goal is to be champions of the Central America zone, then come the growth with these tournaments. Every game from here on out is a plus. Now we know we can play good matches against great teams, they are not invincible."

Ricardo Rivera, El Salvador’s Coach: “We knew the United States is superior, but they are not invincible. We played well, without pressure, the guys did good actions and we know that our weakness is having only two tall players and a small setter. The goal is to keep playing NORCECA´s tournaments and then to grow."