Víctor Andreu

Havana, Aug 19 (JIT) - The second group that makes up the Cuban volleyball pre-selection team traveled on Sunday to the Canadian city of Gatineau, Quebec, where the Norceca Men's Final Six 2024 Tournament will be held from the 20th.

At the Slush Puppie Center, the Antillean team will face its similar teams from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, the Dominican Republic and the United States, in that order.

Once the round of round-robin matches are over, there will be the matches to define the positions, all of which are scheduled for August 25. On that date, the teams in fifth and sixth place will compete; then, the third and fourth place teams will fight for the bronze medal, and to close the tournament, the first and second place teams in the preliminary segment will battle it out for the title.

In the roster of the island's team, made up of players between 18 and 23 years of age, there is the lanky opposing player from Matanzas, Daniel Martinez (2.15 meters), and auxiliary attackers Yusniel Gonzalez (Pinar del Rio), Felix Ernesto Rodriguez (Cienfuegos) and Victor Ramon Andreu (Camagüey).

The middle blockers are Thiago Suarez and Endriel Pedroso, along with Alexis Wilson from the capital; the setters will be captain Adrian Chirino (Camaguey) and Yonni Jesus Iglesias (Santiago de Cuba) and the libero position will be assumed by Yumichael Lawrence, also from Pinar del Río.

Jesús Cruz, technical director of the deluxe team, will be in charge of the squad, this time accompanied by Manuel Espinosa as assistant. Completing the group are physician Lenin Hernandez and Roberto Reyes as head of the delegation.  

Mexico (2021), Cuba (2022) and the United States (2023) have shared the titles in the editions held so far, with Canada always taking second place. In the first two editions, the Americans finished third, a position that last year went to the Mexican team.