Aruba grabs sensational victory over Curacao

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, May 18, 2013 – Aruba scored a sensational victory in five sets over Curacao (20-25, 25-15, 23-25, 27-25, 15-13) to secure a spot against Costa Rica in the finals of the NORCECA Second Round Group L Tournament of the 2014 FIVB Men’s World Championship.

The home team, supported by a cheering crowd, was able to erase one 9-13 deficit in the tie-breaker to claim the win. It was the second victory of Saturday for Aruba who earlier on Saturday had defeated Antigua & Barbuda.

Eargenell De Cuba led four players of Aruba in double figures with 22 points. He was followed by Jonathan Jones (15), Frank Meermans (13) and Angela Fransua (12). Curacao’s Darwin Colina wa the top scorer of the match with 24 points while Gilbert Poulina and Raygid Isenia added 12 and 11 respectively.

“It is a historical victory for Aruba,” said an elated John van der Lee, the coach of Aruba. “We have not defeated Curacao in almost 30 years.”

“I want to play one more round and my team never gave up,” Lee added. “It is still a work in progress but we are moving forward. This is a team of warriors.”

Eargenell De Cuba, captain of the winning side, said the Sunday morning match against Costa Rica is meaningless and they will use it to get into rhythm.

“The most important thing is that we never gave up even when we were behind by many points,” De Cuba said. “The support of the fans was very important as they kept us well motivated.”

On Sunday morning, Curacao takes on winless Antigua & Barbuda while hosts Aruba meets undefeated Costa Rica.