Guatemala wins battle to Dominican Republic

BELIZE CITY, Belize, September 27, 2016. - Guatemala won the battle to Dominican Republic 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-21) at the AFECAVOL Men’s FIVB World Championship qualification tournament St. Catherine Academy Center in Belize City.

Guatemala beat Dominican Republic after losing set one by a considerable advantage. Guatemala held advantage in the following sets, not allowing Dominican Republic to recover. Guatemala’s spikers carried on with the victory as the Dominicans had difficulties in organizing their defense. Guatemala remains the only undefeated team with 3-0 record and Dominican Republic stands with 2-1.

Guatemala dominated the attacking category 53-47 and benefited from Dominican’s 34 errors. Dominican Republic held a comfortable advantage in blocks 6-2 and serves 9-4, while scoring on 28 Guatemalan errors.

Middle blocker Andy Leonardo led Guatemala’s offense with 20 points, on 17 kills, one block and two service points; middle blocker Brandon Chinchilla contributed with 10 points and Jeyson Nery Flores 9 points. Dominican Republic’s top scorers were Henry Lopez (16), Victor Castillo (15), Mario Frias (12) and Wilfrido Hernandez (11).

Guatemala (3-0) faces El Salvador (2-1) on Wednesday and Dominican Republic (2-1) meets Belize (2-1).

Andy Leonardo, of Guatemala: “Guatemala came well prepared, we are focused and united, with our goal on winning, and we hope that things continue like today so we can continue on winning. This tournament is dedicated to our dear friend Moises Reyes. Today’s victory against a highly competitive team and maybe the toughest of the event motivates us to keep our firm pace. We have three more opponents, they are strong and anything can happen”.

Jonathan Mercedes, of Dominican Republic: “We expected to win today but we weren’t concentrated enough and we didn’t do our job. We have to analyze our mistakes tomorrow during practice, which way we can adjust and fix our errors, this hasn’t finished yet. Losing today doesn’t affect us mentally”.

Reider Lucas, coach of Guatemala: “I congratulate my team for today’s victory, they performed well, the fought hard, and they did well. We reached half of the tournament, we have three more matches and we must continue practicing and preparing for them. My guys mind has to be focus on one win at a time, with composure, concentration and tactically disciplined. Guatemala must take advantage of this victory, we won to a team with a long playing tradition, with competitive players, they are Central American and Caribbean champions, so this works well for my team in gaining more confidence”.

Dante Mañon, coach of Dominican Republic: “Our passing failed and our reception was completely off. My players were overconfident; our blocking wasn’t synchronized in stopping Guatemala’s middle blocker. I thought we wouldn’t lose, but there are three matches to go”.