Cuba won the NORCECA Men’s U-21 

MONTERREY, Mexico, August 13, 2006.- Cuba defeated USA in straight sets (25-16, 25-20, 25-18) successfully defending its crown as the kings of NORCECA Men’s U-21 Continental Tournament. Both teams were already qualified for the 2007 FIVB Junior World Championship. In the match for the bronze, Canada beat Puerto Rico 25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-11 and also won a ticket to the world competition.

The Cubans dominated all the way based on the strength of their attack and the timely blocking led by Rolando Junquin, elected as the Most Valuable Player of the event. Junquin led Cuba with 16 points and Raidel Delgado and Yadier Sanchez each added 11 points. Will Price was the only American in double figures with 12 points. More Spanish

USA and Cuba to clash for the gold medal at NORCECA’s U-21 

MONTERREY, Mexico, August 12, 2006.- USA and Cuba will meet in the gold medal match of the NORCECA U-21 Men’s Continental Tournament with both teams having secured berth for the 2007 FIVB Junior World Championship. In the semi finals round, the USA Team defeated Canada by score of 25-20, 25-15, 25-23 and Cuba beat Puerto Rico 25-17, 26-24, 25-20. In the match for the fifth position Mexico had an easy 25-16, 25-19, 25-12 win over Dominican Republic. The Sunday’s match between Canada and Puerto Rico will give to the winner the remaining NORCECA’s sport for the world competition. Maxwell Holt and Austin Zahn led USA with 14 and 11 points respectively and Canadian Andre Morin scored 11 points.  More Spanish

Canada and Puerto Rico join semi finals of NORCECA’s U-21 

MONTERREY, Mexico, August 11, 2006.- Canada and Puerto Rico joined USA and Cuba in the semi finals of the NORCECA Men’s U-21 Championship. On Saturday the Canadians will meet the Americans and Puerto Ricans will go against the Cubans. In a match for the fifth position, Mexico meets Dominican Republic. Canada played almost a perfect game to get a 25-14, 25-15, 25-17 victory over Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico defeated host Mexico by score of 25-22, 25-16, 25-21. The North Americans utilized its high blocking to stop the Dominicans and provoke many errors in their offense. “Our blocking created problems to their attack,” said George Laplante, the Canadian coach. “Besides, our serves carried us to the victory.” More Spanish

Cuba and USA in semi finals at NORCECA Men’s U-21 

MONTERREY, Mexico, August 10, 2006.- Cuba and USA are in the semi finals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental U-21 Tournament after scoring 3-0 victories over Puerto Rico and Mexico on Thursday. In the other match of the day, Dominican Republic beat Guatemala 3-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals.  On Friday, Dominican Republic will meet Canada while Puerto Rico plays against host Mexico. Raidel Delgado scored 15 points and Rolando Junquin added 14 in Cuba’s 25-18, 25-19, 25-17 victory over Puerto Rico in just 63 minutes. “My team could execute well in the reception, attack and blocking, but we need to work on our serves,” said Juan Gala, the Cuban coach. “Our goal here is to successfully defend the crown we won two years ago.” William Price and Matthew Anderson contributed 15 and 13 points respectively in the USA 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 against Mexico in 67 minutes. Mexican Juan Virgen (14) and David Alva (10) also scored in double figures.  More Spanish

Mexico and USA are 2-0 at NORCECA Men’s U-21

MONTERREY, Mexico, August 9, 2006.- Mexico and USA continued on the winning road after scoring 3-0 victories over Dominican Republic and Guatemala at the NORCECA Men’s U-21 Continental Tournament, a qualifier for the 2007 Junior World Championship in Morocco. Now Mexico and USA have 2-0 records to share the first place of Pool A. These two teams will meet on Thursday for the automatic ticket to the semi finals round. In the other match of Wednesday, Canada defeated Puerto Rico 3-1 in a close battle. The Mexicans got a 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 victory over the Dominicans with Tomas Aguilera and Jesus Gonzalez scoring 11 points apiece. Dominican Jose Miguel Galva had a match-high 16 points. “Now we are going out well motivated against USA,” said Mexican captain Juan Virgen. “We all know that we will have to play hard, that’s for sure.” Ventura Fernandez, the Dominican coach, saw his team taking a step forward. “Today I saw them playing better, but we need to play harder tomorrow to get the win and stay in the tournament.”  More Spanish

Mexico, Cuba and USA start strong at NORCECA’s U-21 

MONTERREY, Mexico, August 8, 2006.- Mexico, Cuba and USA enjoyed strong starts with 3-0 victories on Tuesday at the NORCECA Men’s U-21 Continental Tournament. Host Mexico beat Guatemala 25-17, 27-25, 25-18, USA defeated Dominican Republic 25-16, 25-18, 25-18 and Cuba won against Canada 27-25, 25-17, 25-17. The top three ranked team of this event will be qualified for next year’s FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship in Morocco. The more experienced Mexicans, and also backed up by the local crowd, dominated Guatemala without major difficulties. The Guatemalans resisted in the second set with a stable blocking, but at the end the accurate spikes of Edgar Herrera and Juan Virgen produced the Mexico’s advantage. Herrera led Mexico with 11 points and Virgen and Pedro Rangel contributed 10 apiece. Jorge Gonzalez had 10 points for Guatemala. “It was our first match and the lack of harmony was evident and in the second set we had setting problems,” said Luis Leon, the Mexican coach.  More Spanish