Cuba to the Olympics for eighth time

 

MONTERREY, Mexico, December 22, 2007.- Cuba will enter the Olympic Games for the eighth time after scoring one clear victory in straight sets over Canada (25-19, 25-9, 25-16) in the gold medal clash of the Norceca Women’s Olympic Qualifier.

 

Winners of the gold medal in Barcelona ’92, Atlanta ’96 and Sidney 2000, the Cubans took the bronze medal in Athens ’04. They also participated in Munich ’72, Montreal ’76 and Moscow ’80.

 

Veteran Yumilka Ruiz had 17 points for Cuba and Kenia Carcaces and Nancy Carrillo each added 11 tallies. Setter Yanelis Santos had 6 of 13 Cuban’s blocks and totalled 9 points.

 

“We played almost a perfect game and did not let Canada to play,” said Antonio Perdomo, the Cuban coach. “I am very proud of my team and I hope to represent well Norceca during the Olympics. We improved with each match and capped the competition with this kind of performance in every aspect of the game.”

 

“I am very happy with our second place and I want to congratulate my players,” said Naoki Miyashita, the coach of Canada. “We enjoyed a good tournament but in the finale, Cuba showed its experience.”

 

Cuba took the road to the victory in the first set with a 6-point rally at 10-11 sparked by one solid spike by Kenia Carcaces for the tie and another by Yumilka Ruiz for the definitive lead.

 

The second set was one-sided with Cuba establishing a high blocking and maintaining its usual strong attack. Canada was no-match for the Cuban side.

 

The third set was not different with the Cubans dominating every category against a resilient but also inexperienced rival.