Two Cubans win individual awards at Norceca

Havana, July 18 (ACN) - Cuba defeated Canada 3-0 and won the men's volleyball men's Pan American Final Six Cup, held at the Amado Nervo Auditorium in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico.

According to the website www.norceca.net, the Cubans defeated the Canadians in the final with scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-19, in an hour and 17 minutes of play, with Jesús Herrera, top scorer of the match with 14 points, nine in attack, two in blocking and three in service, standing out.

Miguel Ángel López (13/12-1-0) and Roberlandy Simón (9/6-2-1) also stood out for the Antilles, while Brandon Koppers (11/8-0-3) and Jordan Canham (10/6-2-2) stood out for Canada.

The disciples of Nicolas Vives were better in attack, 37 for 32 points, blocking (8-4) and the errors committed that contributed goals to the rivals (23-25), while those of Dan Ota did so in the service (6-5).

Cuba had five straight wins in the preliminaries against Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-15, 25-15 and 25-22), United States, 3-2 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 23-25, 23-25 and 15-11), Canada 3-0 (25-17, 25-18 and 25-21), Puerto Rico, 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-20) and Mexico, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18 and 25-22).

In the semifinals, the Cubans repeated their victory against the Puerto Ricans, but with a 3-0 score (25-23, 25-17 and 25-16), a result that guaranteed their advancement to the final.

The silver medal went to the United States, who beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (27-25, 25-22 and 25-23), while host Mexico took fifth place with a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-18 and 26-24) win over the Dominican Republic.

The tournament distributed points towards the qualification for the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador and the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, both in 2023.

However, Vives expressed before starting the tournament: "our intentions are to give our best, to prepare well for the FIVB Challenger World Cup which is the most important immediate event we have (at the end of this month)".

"We are gearing up the machinery. We are also preparing for the Pan American Cup and the World Championship. Cuba's main goal is always to win the competition," he concluded.