Osniel Mergarejo

Havana, June 4 (ACN) - The Cuban men's volleyball team defeated the Dominican Republic 3-0 at the start of the Challenger Final Four, held at the 19 de Noviembre Hall in Pinar del Río.

According to the website www.norceca.net, the Cubans overcame the Dominicans with scores of 25-16, 25-13 and 25-23, with Osniel Mergarejo, top scorer of the match with 11 points, standing out.

Miguel Ángel López (10), Miguel David Gutiérrez (10) and Roamy Alonso (7) were also outstanding for the hosts, while the best for the Dominicans were Wilfredo Hernández (7) and Antonio Henry López (6).

Nicolas Vives, technical director of Cuba, moved the bench as announced before the game, so they also had action on the court with points, Julio Cesar Cardenas (5), Michael Sanchez (4), Adrian Goide (3), Lyvan Taboada (2), Javier Concepcion (1), Christian Thondike (1) and captain Liván Osoria (1).

The openers of the challenge were Mergarejo, López, Alonso, Gutiérrez, Osoria and passer Goide, with Yonder García and José Miguel Gutiérrez in sweeper duties.

Only the recent champion of the Italian League with Lube Civitanova, Malon Yant, was left on the bench for Cuba.

The statistics of the match reflect the better performance of the Cubans in attack, 46 to 21, blocking (5-3) and service (5-2), while the Dominicans committed 16 errors to 21 for Vives' disciples.

This Saturday the Cuban team is looking for its second win against Mexico.