Photo: A small group of supporters cheered hard for Guatemala in a very, very sparse audience to this afternoon’s Costa Rica vs Guatemala match.

Legend: SP – Sets Played. W/L – Games Won/Lost. S(W/L) – Sets Won/Lost. Points For Against – points scored/conceded in each set played. PTs S/C – Total points scored/conceded in all games played.

The XIV Central American U19 Volleyball Championships is played using a Rally Point System and each match is played to three best-of-five sets. The first four sets are played to 25 points, with the final set being played to 15 points. A team must win a set by two points. There is no ceiling, so a set continues until one of the teams gains a two-point advantage.

Sunday, July 16:

1. El Salvador def Honduras (3-1) 25-16 25-22 18-25 25-15 (93-78) 2:00
2. Nicaragua def Guatemala (3-1) 25-23 25-14 20-25 25-21 (95-83) 2:10
3. Belize def Panama (3-0) 25-11 25-16 25-13 (75-40) 1:19

Monday, July 17:

4. Nicaragua def El Salvador (3-1) 25-17 25-15 16-25 25-14 (71-91) 2:03
5. Panama def Honduras (3-0) 25-16 25-23 25-11 (75-50) 1:31
6. Costa Rica def Belize (3-1) 25-21 22-25 25-12 25-7 (97-65) 1:50

Tuesday, July 18:

7. Nicaragua def Panama (3-0) 25-16 25-17 25-13 (75-46) 1:23
8. Costa Rica def Honduras (3-0) 25-16 25-19 25-14 (75-49) 1:27
9. Guatemala def El Salvador (3-1) 25-17 25-15 24-26 25-20 (99-78) 2:04

Wednesday, July 19:

10. Costa Rica def Nicaragua (3-0) 25-19 26-24 25-12 (76-55) 1:31
11. Panama def Guatemala (0-3) 25-22 26-24 25-20 (76-66) 1:40
12. Belize def Honduras (3-0) 25-13 25-12 25-9 (75-34) 1:09

Thursday, July 20: 13. Guatemala vs Costa Rica; 14. El Salvador vs Panama; 15. Nicaragua vs Belize

Friday, July 21: 16. Costa Rica vs El Salvador; 17. Honduras vs Nicaragua; 18. Belize vs Guatemala

Saturday, July 22: 19. Panama vs Costa Rica; 20. Guatemala vs Honduras, 21. El Salvador vs Belize

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 20, 2023

At press time today Costa Rica (4-0), the powerhouse favorite of the XIV Central American U19 Volleyball Championships, had just mowed down the Guatemala (2-2) female Under-19 team in straight sets, 3-0, to remain undefeated in four matches so far.

In today’s second match El Salvador (1-2) and Panama (1-3) are struggling to win their 3 best-of-five tussle because the loser likely will not be able to medal by the time the tournament ends on Sunday.

And tonight, starting at 7:30 p.m., Belize’s favourite girls, (2-1), its U-19 national team will face Nicaragua’s (3-1) in a match that is likely to determine which of the seven teams gets the silver medal.

It used to be rare in regional tournaments that a Belize vs Guatemala match, as will happen tomorrow night, is not the biggest game on our calendar in Belize, but tonight’s showdown with Nicaragua easily supersedes that in importance.

Belize opened tournament play well Sunday night throttling Panama in 3 sets and in just an hour and 19 minutes, 25-11, 25-16, 25-13 (75-40), but was whip-sawed Monday night by Costa Rica, easily the class of the tournament, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-12, 25-7) (97-65).

Our young ladies fought brilliantly, taking the second set after a narrow first-set loss, but the Costa Ricans shifted gears and blew them off the court in true championship fashion in the final 2 sets. Their only consolation may end up being that that second set victory may be the only one lost by the putative gold medalists during the entire tournament.

A day of rest restored some luster to the Lady Jaguars as they returned to overrun hapless Panama (1-2) in straight sets, (3-0) 25-13, 25-12, 25-9 (75-34), in a so-far tournament record only an hour and nine minutes.

Perhaps it is because they had witnessed a spirited Nicaragua, one of the tournament’s offensive juggernauts, take Costa Rica to a rare post-25-point total in the second set of Nicaragua’s straight set loss. (Costa Rica defeated Nicaragua, (3-0) 25-19, 26-24, 25-12 (76-55) 1:31).

The 21-match tournament wraps up Sunday night with the final matches and the medal ceremony.