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Cuba advances to match against Canada

 

   

EDMONTON, Canada, January 9, 2016 - Cuba beat Mexico in straight sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23) moving to a decisive match against hosts Canada for the ticket to the Olympic Games on Sunday at Saville Sports Centre in Edmonton.

 

Osmany Uriarte led a balanced attack with 15 points as the only player in the match who reached double digits in the scoring charts. Rolando Cepeda was next with 9 points and Luis Tomas Sosa added seven in the victory.

 

Mexico’s Jorge Barajas, Nestor Orellana and Samuel Cordova finished with 8 points apiece in the losing effort.

 

Cuba held the advantage in kills 35-28 and also in blocks 6-4 and in aces 7-3 with Ricardo Calvo and Uriarte scoring with three service winners apiece.

 

Rodolfo Sanchez, Coach of Cuba: “We played much better than yesterday but in the third set we let it down a little and had to come from behind. The match against Canada is going to be a tough one. They are a strong team and are playing at home. But we came here with the commitment to win the tournament and the boys are determined to battle until the end.”

 

Rolando Cepeda, Captain of Cuba: “The good thing today was that we won which is the most important matter. The bad thing is that once again we lost the intensity in the third set and had to come back. Against Canada we are expecting a difficult match. The crowd will be behind them and they have a solid team. We will do our best trying to win the tournament.”

 

Ivan Contreras, Assistant Coach of Mexico: “I think we started playing a little bit late.  Apparently the guys didn’t have the energy to compete in the first and half of the second set. But it just shows us that at times, when our guys want to play and when we have a good rhythm, we can make it uncomfortable for other teams.  We’re not at the stage where we can say we can beat anybody, but we can be competitive and make it difficult for other teams.   We knew that Cuba and Canada were the favourites and we have got to continue with our Olympic dream by winning the match tomorrow.”