Cuban U23 Volleyball Team (m)

Havana, Sep 16 (ACN) The Cuban men's team defeated Costa Rica 3-0 today in the first day of Group A of the ninth edition of the U23 Pan American Volleyball Cup, held at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo, Suriname.

According to www.norceca.net, the disciples of Jesus Cruz defeated the Costa Ricans with scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-22, in one hour and 21 minutes of action on the court, led by outside hitter Bryan Camino, top scorer of the match with 21 points, 17 in attack and four in service.

Camino was supported by fellow corner Yusniel Gonzalez (11/10-1-0), the only players with double digits in the match.

The official statistics of the challenge highlight that the Cubans were better in attack (25-29), blocking (7-6) and service (6-1), and that they were outplayed in their own errors that bring goals to the rivals (20-16).

According to the schedule announced by the organizers, today will also see the matches Peru-Guatemala, Mexico-Dominican Republic and Suriname-St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in that order.

The next opponents for Cruz's pupils will be the Dominicams on Tuesday and the Mexicans on Wednesday, the closing date of the group stage, which is played on a round-robin basis with the first two places advancing directly to the semifinals.

The largest of the Antilles appears in section A along with Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, while in section B are Guatemala, Peru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the host Surinamese.

Cuba and the Dominican Republic finished first and second, in that order, in the 2023 edition of the U23 Pan American Cup, and earned their tickets to the Junior Pan American Games to be held in Asuncion, Paraguay in 2025, so the two slots at stake are now being disputed among the rest of the contestants from the North, Central American and Caribbean (Norceca) teams.

Tournament organizers announced that the two direct berths will go to the top-ranked teams from Norceca, without taking into account those teams that already have berths.

Cuba has won the event three times since its inception in 2012, beating Mexico in 2014 and 2018, and the Dominican Republic in 2023, while Argentina, Brazil and Mexico each have a gold medal.