by William Ysaguirre
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 16, 2024
The Belize National Men’s Volleyball Team won 4 individual awards and triumphed, 3-1, over Honduras in their 6th match at the 15th AFECAVOL Central American Under-19 championships hosted by the Salvadoran Sports Institute at the FESAVOL Gymnasium in San Salvador, El Salvador, from December 6-15.
Photo: David Garbutt – Best Digger & Best Libero
David Garbutt won awards for Best Digger and Best Libero, with 127 digs and 243 excellent receptions. Orion Butler won the Best Blocker award with 20 kill blocks, while Lawrence Mahler won the Best Setter award with 156 excellent running sets.
Photo: Orion Butler – Best Blocker
On Saturday, Nelson Valladares led Honduras with 13 pts, and Belize conceded 49 pts by unforced errors, allowing the “catrachos” to win the first set, 25-21.
Photo: Lawrence Mahler – Best Setter
Hayden Requeña rallied Belize’s counterattack, hammering 16 kills, a kill block, and served 2 aces to win the 2nd set, 25-23. Lebron Baizar hammered 15 hits and a block, and Daniel Musa scored 15 hits and served an ace to win the 3rd set, 25-21. Orion Butler had 9 kill blocks and scored 3 hits, while Francis Thomas scored 4 hits and 2 blocks, and Lawrence Mahler had 2 kill blocks and a hit. Michael Barber chipped in a hit to win the 4th set, 25-22. They also benefited from the catrachos’ 22 errors.
It was their first and only victory after 5 losses, as they had debuted with a 2-3 loss to Nicaragua on Sunday, December 8, and lost, 1-3, to the hosts on Monday, December 9. After resting Tuesday, their vale of tears continued, as they lost to the eventual gold medalists – Panama, 0-3, last Wednesday, and 0-3 to the bronze medalists – Guatemala on Thursday. They suffered a 5th loss, as Costa Rica dominated them, 25-14, 25-12, and 25-15 last Friday, December 13.