Cuba vs Spain

Havana, Aug 28 (JIT) - The Cuban national team sold its defeat to Spain, which required five sets to claim a place in the quarterfinals of the First U-17 Men's Volleyball World Championship 2024, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria until Aug. 31.

The hard-fought duel concluded 3-2 with scores in favor of the Spaniards of 26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25 and 15-10. The Antilleans had a 55-52 advantage in attack, a five-point lead in points from direct serves and fewer errors of their own -34 to 36-, but the winners led in blocking (15-10).

Both teams were led by four players who accumulated double digits. For the Cubans, opposite and captain Yosdani Medina (22 units), corners Yordani Ruiz (17) and Andy Marrero (14), and middle blocker Julio Acosta (10) stood out.

The top scorer of the challenge that closed the long day was Cesar Irache with 23 points, followed by Rafel Tugores (20), Hugo Rubio (11) and Jose Manuel Pastor (10), according to the website of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).

After the general break on Wednesday, the students of Pinar del Río coach Mario Izquierdo will play on Thursday against Tunisia, which lost 1-3 (21-25, 26-24, 18-25, 21-25, 21-25) to Belgium.

It will be one of the four matches between losers of Tuesday's round of 16, whose winners will advance to the matches for places 9 to 12. Completing the program of this group are the Mexico-Chile, Bulgaria-Uzbekistan and Libya-Puerto Rico matches.