Cuba beat Venezuela to reach second victory

CORDOBA, Mexico, November 26, 2014 - Cuba beat Venezuela in straight sets (30-28, 25-18, 25-19) to get their second win at the Men’s Tournament of the XXII Central American and Caribbean Games.

Javier Jimenez, Osmany Uriarte and Isbel Mesa topped the Cuban arsenal with 16, 13, and 10 points, respectively.

Kervin Pinerua was the best scorer for Venezuela, by totalizing 13 units. Cuba began to struggle with their reception while Venezuela worked hard on the net to came from behind.

The South Americans also combined good services, but the beginning of the match was very tight with a total of 58 combined points at the end of first set. Cuba looked superior in block (11-3) and services (9-3) including 4 aces by Jimenez. Venezuela gave up 25 points, Cuba only 19.

“This was not a great match for us. We just could not keep our level and there were lack of discipline from our part to block. It was up to us since the beginning. It was just a bad day, but I hope we can move on,” said Pinerua.

“Today we came out very well. We had our game. There were not many mistakes and were a little bit tense in the first set, but tried to keep calm to get the best of this match,” Rolando Cepeda, captain of Cuba, stated.

“The problem is that we could not work on the change. It was not good for us. Cuba played with a very strong service. I could not see any fundamental well performed. Yesterday we served very well and changed the ball in good rhythm, but today we struggled in front of the net,” Vicenzo Nacci, coach of Venezuela remarked.

“This match was much better than yesterday’s. We worked with all the efficiency of our team. We are still away to improve, but we expect to do so as the tournament goes on”, Rodolfo Sánchez, head coach of Cuba, expressed.