Cuba's volleyball team in Mexico

Havana, July 13 (RHC).- Although forced to play five sets, the Cuban volleyball team achieved its second win in a row at the Norceca volleyball tournament held in Nayarit, Mexico, by disposing of the United States.

Nicolás Vives' students defeated the U.S. team with scores of 25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 23-25 and 15-11, in two hours and two minutes of play.

It was the second win for the Cubans, after opening with a 3-0 victory over the Dominicans.   The top scorer for the Cubans was left-handed opposite Jesus Herrera, with 20 points and 60 percent efficiency, followed by Miguel Angel Lopez (19) and Roamy Alonso (13).

The Cubans were superior in attacking and serving, but the Americans outblocked them.   It was a match of many unforced errors with almost 80: 43 by Cuba and 35 by the United States. The Cubans committed 34 service errors.

The third presentation of the Cubans will be this Wednesday against the difficult team of Canada.  The qualifying round is played on a round-robin basis and the top four will advance to Saturday's semifinals. Medals will be up for grabs on Sunday.

The event is a qualifier for the Centrocaribes in San Salvador and the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, both in 2023.

The Cuban sextet is preparing ahead of the World Challenger later this month in South Korea and the World Championship, scheduled for August 26 to September 11 in Poland and Slovenia.