Cuba Win Puts it in NORCECA Final and FIVB Worlds

TULSA, United States (July 18, 2014) – Cuba qualified for the gold medal match and qualified for the 2015 FIVB World Championship with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-15 win over Puerto Rico on Friday at the Cox Business Center Arena.

Cuba (4-0) will play in Saturday’s gold medal match at 6 p.m. CT. Puerto Rico will play for bronze at 4 p.m. The top three finishers at the tournament will qualify for the 2015 World Championship.

Cuba’s block proved to be the big difference in the match as the Caribbean side led 14-1. It held a much smaller lead in kills (37-34) and aces (2-0). Cuba scored 22 points on Puerto Rico errors while committing 18.

“It was a very important match today and I am very happy with the way we played,” Cuba Coach Roberto Garcia Garci said. “Definitely going to the finals was one of the main goals that we had.”

Cuba’s Miguel Gutierrez led all scorers with 18 points on a match-high 13 kills and a match-high five blocks. Ismel Pelayo added nine points on eight attacks and one ace. Javier Concepcion totaled eight points on four kills and four blocks.

Joanathan Rodriquez led Puerto Rico with 10 points on 10 kills. Luis Ocasio added eight points on eight attacks.

Quotes

Cuba Captain Daikel Fernandez: “It is amazing to go to the final. We played really well and we are really happy.”

Cuba Coach Roberto Garcia Garci: “It was a very important match today and I am very happy with the way we played. Definitely going to the finals was one of the main goals that we had. One of the main things was qualifying for the World Championship, and we did that. Tomorrow we are going to play with our hearts to win the final.”

Puerto Rico Captain: Luis Ocasio: “The main weakness was our reception and our defense did not play like we expected. We knew Cuba was a very good team. We were prepared for them.”

Puerto Rico Coach Julio Ruvira: “We made too many mental mistakes throughout the game. It made it very difficult to get the most important points throughout the three sets. If we were going to go practice right now we would focus on reception. That would be the main thing.”