Volleyball
Havana, Jun 20 (ACN) The Cuban men's team lost 0-3 in Group B to Puerto Rico and advanced to the quarterfinals of the First North, Central America and Caribbean (Norceca) U-17 Pan American Volleyball Cup at the Multifunctional Auditorium in Colima, Mexico, where they will face Guatemala today.
After defeating Nicaragua 3-0 in their debut on Tuesday with scores of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-12, the disciples of coach Frank Almendariz Dávalos lost 0-3 (24-26, 23-25 and 17-25) against the Puerto Ricans, who had their main weapon in their attack.
According to the site www.norceca.net, Almendariz's pupils were only better in blocking, seven points to six, as Carlos de Sevilla's team outplayed them in attack (40-34), service (7-2) and their own errors that gave so many points to their rivals (21-23).
The official individual statistics highlighted that the top scorer of the match was Cuba's Samuel Alejandro Rodriguez, with 15 points, 12 in attack, two in blocking and one in service, followed by Puerto Rico's Maximiliano Aponte (14/9-2-3).
The Puerto Ricans Gustavo Antonio Álvarez (13/13-0-0), Antonio Alejandro Carrillo (10/9-1-0) and Jorge Carlos Suárez (10/6-3-1) also stood out with double digits.
With this result, the largest of the Antilles was in second place in section B, with one win and one setback, and advanced to the quarterfinals, a stage in which they will face Guatemala (1-2), third in Group A, while the Puerto Ricans (2-0), first in A, advanced directly to the semifinals.
In the A bracket, the Guatemalans (1-2), third, defeated the Costa Ricans (0-3), fourth, 3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 22-25 and 27-25), and the Mexican team (3-0), first, defeated the Canadians (2-1), second, 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 19-25 and 15-).
Mexico will join Puerto Rico in Saturday's semifinal matches, awaiting the winners of Friday's quarterfinals, while the losers will battle for the fifth through seventh places.
The Cup is part of the qualification system for the 2025 Norceca Continental Championship and the 2026 World Championship, both in the category.
