Cuba sweeps Guatemala at NORCECA U19

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, June 7, 2018.- Cuba swept Guatemala in straight sets (25-13, 25-12, 25-18) on the second day of actions at the NORCECA U19 Boys’ Continental Championship in Gimnasio Nacional of San Jose, Costa Rica.

Cuba is moving forward in pool B, with two wins in the same amount of outings. Cuba’s serves (10-2) were too much for Guatemala who struggled with various inconsistencies in their performance.

Cuba also held a huge 37-12 margin in kills and 7-1 advantage in blocking. In errors, Cuba finished with 28 and Guatemala with 21.

Cuba’s offense was led by wing spiker Jose Miguel Gutierrez with 14 points on 13 kills; setter Christian Thondike scored 10 points, while opposite Alexei Ramirez and wing spiker Victor Andreu contributed with 7 points apiece.

Cuba’s (2-0) next opponent in pool B is United States (1-0) and Guatemala (0-2) faces Honduras (0-1).

Cuban captain Christian Thondike indicated “added to our serves, our reception and attacking was also effective. We have worked very well. Guatemala has little game strategy but they fought hard”. Speaking about their next opponent, “United States is always a tough team and we are hoping to win against them”.

Mario Raul Izquierdo Cuban coach is confident his team is prepared “our serves were strong and strategically directed to control Guatemala. My boys are motivated, they are in good physical conditions, most important of all is that nobody is injured; we will continue to face each match with conviction”.

Guatemala’s Libero, Angel Alvarado said “Cuba’s serves were really difficult to handle, they weren’t that strong but they were well directed. Our performance was similar than yesterday against United States and we hope to beat Honduras tomorrow”.

Luis Fernando Castañeda, Guatemala’s coach considered that Cuba’s serves were the main factor of their loss “they were impossible to receive, added to their strength, they were well positioned. Our captain Imalej is injured and we hope for his recovery for our more accessible opponents”.