Havana, Jun 27 (ACN) Cuba lost 0-3 to host Dominican Republic at the start of the IV Pan American Cup Final Six of North, Central America and the Caribbean (Norceca) of Volleyball (w), to be held until next Sunday in Santo Domingo, where today they will face Puerto Rico.
With the stage at the Professor Ricardo Gioriber stadium in the Quisqueyan capital, the Cubans fell this Wednesday in group B with scores of 25-22, 25-14 and 25-18, after one hour and 11 minutes of action on the field, in which their main difficulty was their own mistakes, with 22 points to their rivals’ 11.
The Dominicans were also better in blocking (7-3) and serving (7-1), and tied in attack (39-39), with the highlight being local Brayelyn Elizabeth Martínez, top scorer of the match with 13 points, nine in attack, two in blocking and two in serving.
The other player with double digits was her teammate, Alondra Denis Tapia (11/10-0-1), while Laura Beatriz Suárez (8/5-3-0) and Ivi May stood out for Leivis García’s disciples. Vila (7/7-0-0), according to the official individual statistics of the match.
In the technical meeting this Tuesday of the contest, García explained “in this specific tournament we made some modifications to the roster and now we have a greater interrelation between experience and youth.”
“We bring girls from a new cycle in projection for the next four years and we see a well-focused team where motivation is the greatest success they have had so far,” he added.
In the other match on Wednesday, but in Group A, the United States defeated Mexico 3-0 (33-31, 27-25 and 25-15), a team that will face Canada on Thursday.
The Canada-Mexico challenge is also scheduled to take place this Thursday, and on Friday, the closing of the group stage, the Americans and Canadians, and the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, will be in action, with a rest for Cuba.
According to the competition program, the first and second places in each section will advance to the semifinal on Saturday, while on Sunday the fifth and sixth places will be defined, and the bronze and gold medals will be discussed, in that order.
The tournament is part of the qualification process for the 2025 Norceca Women’s Pan American Cup and the 2025 Norceca Women’s Continental Championship, organizers report on the site www.norceca.net.
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