United States rock solid win against Honduras

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, June 7, 2018.- With another rock solid performance in group B, United States beat Honduras 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 14) at the NORCECA U19 Boys’ Continental Championship in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The US players still had a rocky beginning just like their first match of the event but had no difficulties to move forward with every player having the chance to chip in their second victory.

United States easily kept their undefeated mark with an overpowering 39-7 margin in kills, 6-2 margin in blocking and 5-0 in service points. The US allowed 36 points on unforced errors while Honduras committed 25.

USA wing spiker Alexander Knight aced his way with five serving points, scoring 13 points for a match-high. Opposite Scott Solan and middle blocker Ethan Hill registered seven points each.

With their second victory, the United States (2-0) is set to battle against Cuba (2-0) for top spot in pool B and advanced directly into semifinals.

About tonight’s performance, USA captain Joseph Karlous expressed “For us the key was to stay focused, the first set was a little rocky again but we stayed together with chemistry and being strong”. Speaking about Cuba he added “we’re just going to do our job and play USA volleyball”.

USA Head coach Brad Keller said about another slow beginning “it’s excitement; tonight we were a little more settled and at the end of the day we continued to get better, which I’m fine with. We were good in serves, even though we missed a lot of them and our passing was good also”. Looking ahead of facing Cuba, “the two countries have a lot of pride, we both play are really good at volleyball; we’ll see good technicalities and big swings, just more exciting moments”.

Alejandro Castillo, Head coach of Honduras said they were prepared for a difficult match but it’s a dream to be here “we learn from this experience, my team came from less to more, we improved our reception and our reaction in defense. We need good energy for a good match against Guatemala”.

Setter Matthew Gernat of Honduras expressed “United States has strength, they’re tall and they hit everything, we have lots to learn; we weren’t able to control their serves. Against Guatemala we want to play orderly and tactically while defending and attacking, we must be effective in serves”.