Cuba downs Honduras in NORCECA U19 debut

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, June 6, 2018. - Cuba downed Honduras 3-0 (25-9, 25-10, 25-10) in their NORCECA U19 Boys’ Continental Championship debut a qualifier to the FIVB age-group World Championship.

Cuba had little resistance to pull off their victory in group B, while using all their players in a match that lasted only fifty-nine minutes.

The Caribbean team outnumbered Honduras in every category: 36-11 in attacks, 12-0 in blocks and 11-0 in serves. Cuba handed out 18 points in errors and Honduras totaled 16.

Cuban wing spikers Jose Miguel Gutierrez and Victor Andreu topped all scorers with 11 points apiece, followed by opposite Alexei Ramirez with 10 points, while setter Christian Thondike and middle blocker Luis Vidal Allen contributed with 9 points each. Middle blocker David Pineda of Honduras scored 4 points.

Thursday’s group B actions features Cuba (1-0) against Guatemala (0-1) and United States (1-0) faces Honduras (0-1).

Cuba coach Mario Izquierdo “There is no small opponent, we are focused on that; we come here to face whatever comes our way, we respect everyone and we come well prepared. I liked the way my boys fought and the well they followed the instructions given before today’s match”.

Cuba captain Chrisitan Thondike “We were aiming to win, everything turned out well; we come well prepared. Many people are involved in our preparation, we always look to come on top and our goal is to qualify to the world championship”.

Honduras coach Alejandro Castillo “We all aware of Cuba’s quality and we already knew tonight’s outcome. This match helps my team prepare better. Our defense and passing worked well in set two”.

Honduras captain Allan Escoto “We are short and they are tall, this makes all the difference. We did our best; we defended as much as possible and we fought up to the end; we aren’t here to fool around, we are ready to play hard”.