Cuba Defeats Costa Rica in Five Sets and Advances to Semifinals

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, November 21, 2025.- Cuba won an exciting match 3-2 (25-18, 25-22, 23-25, 12-25, 15-10) over Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the NORCECA U17 Boys’ Continental Championship, advancing to the semifinals where they will face the United States.

After taking the first two sets with relative ease, it seemed Cuba was on its way to the semifinals without major complications. However, Costa Rica responded strongly, snatching the third set 25-23 and widely dominating the fourth set, capitalizing on Cuba’s nervousness.

In the fifth set, Costa Rica jumped to a 2-0 lead, but after a timeout requested by the Cuban coaching staff, the team managed to settle down and regain control of the match. From that point on, Cuba dictated the pace of the decider thanks to their powerful attacks, sealing the victory.

Reinaldo Márquez, Cuba’s captain, led the offense with 27 points, five of them from aces. He was followed by Dalian La O with 18 points and Víctor Contreras with 17. For Costa Rica, Kenneth Quirós tallied 16 points, Ignacio Alpízar added 13, and Moisés Watson scored 10.

With this result, Cuba will face the United States at 6:00 p.m. in the tournament’s first semifinal. In the other semifinal, Mexico will take on Puerto Rico at 8:00 p.m.

For positions 5 through 8, Barbados will play the Dominican Republic at 2:00 p.m., while Nicaragua will face Costa Rica at 4:00 p.m.

Lian Sem Estrada, Cuba’s coach: “The boys managed to pull off the match in the end, but I think we got a bit overconfident. In the fifth set, after starting down due to two errors, we thought it was the moment to break Costa Rica’s momentum and get out of the emotional slump that a fifth set brings. We carried out a tactical plan after finishing the fourth set, made some adjustments on the court, and now we’re in the semifinals, which was a step we wanted to reach, but the goal goes beyond that. We have another objective, and first we must get through the semifinal.”

Reinaldo Márquez, Cuba’s captain: “We feel good because this was one of our objectives: to be among the top four. On the other hand, we could have closed the match earlier, without complicating things, but at one point we let ourselves slip and the match went to five sets. The important thing is the victory, and we achieved it. Now we have to battle against the United States and fight for the gold medal.”