BELIZE CITY CIVIC CENTRE, Sat. Aug. 12, 2023
The Belize male national volleyball team clinched the bronze medal in the XXII AFECAVOL Central American Men’s Volleyball Cup here tonight by winning the second set, 25-14, of its match with Nicaragua, and despite losing the other 3 sets 18-25, 19-25, 30-32.
Although both Belize and Nicaragua were tied in the standings with identical (3-3) match won/loss records, Belize got the medal because it had a better set won/loss record (12-13) to (10-12) and had more points, 14 to 13, overall.
Guatemala won gold and its fifth consecutive Central American championship with a stellar (5-1) match record (17-6 in sets), and a total of 24 points.
El Salvador won the silver medal, finishing with a (4-2) match record, (14-9) in sets, and 19 points.
Both teams had defeated Belize in their encounters in the round robin tournament.
Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica finished fourth to seventh, respectively, though the latter three had identical (2-4) match records.
Belizean players: Karym Coleman and Raheem Flowers were awarded – Best Opposite and Best Receptionist, respectively; while Ernest Broaster won the 2nd Best Striker award.
Carlos Lopez of Guatemala was chosen as MVP and won the Best Striker award. His teammate Andy Blanco had the most aces and scored the most points on serves, therefore he won the Best Server award.
Other awardees were: Best Free – Miguel Medina, Best Setter – Astergio Diaz, and Best Defense – Miguel Medina of Panama; 1st Best Blocker – Emilio Andrews (Nicaragua); 2nd Best Blocker – Manuel Platero (El Salvador); and Top Scorers – Rodrigo Chávez (El Salvador) and Andy Blanco (Guatemala).
Following tonight’s match, Albert Humes, Belize’s Head Coach said in an interview: “The team has put heart and unity to make our country proud, but it hasn’t been good enough for us. We must go back to the drawing board and see where we have deficiencies and resolve them. This has been a great tournament that I have been training for over 30 years, and this is a process where I have seen the teams so competitive; for example, Honduras loses one day and then wins the next day, a constant up and down. So, this is a beautiful tournament this year, and I hope we continue to have tournaments like this. The quality of the product produced by AFECAVOL and delivered to the world is excellent, and we have shown that we can reach the level of major competitions”.