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EDMONTON, Canada, January 9, 2016 - Cuba beat Mexico in straight
sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23) moving to a decisive match
against hosts Canada for the ticket to the Olympic Games on
Sunday at Saville Sports Centre in Edmonton.
Osmany Uriarte led a balanced attack with 15 points as the only
player in the match who reached double digits in the scoring
charts. Rolando Cepeda was next with 9 points and Luis Tomas
Sosa added seven in the victory.
Mexico’s Jorge Barajas, Nestor Orellana and Samuel Cordova
finished with 8 points apiece in the losing effort.
Cuba held the advantage in kills 35-28 and also in blocks 6-4
and in aces 7-3 with Ricardo Calvo and Uriarte scoring with
three service winners apiece.
Rodolfo Sanchez, Coach of Cuba:
“We played much better than yesterday but in the third set we
let it down a little and had to come from behind. The match
against Canada is going to be a tough one. They are a strong
team and are playing at home. But we came here with the
commitment to win the tournament and the boys are determined to
battle until the end.”
Rolando Cepeda, Captain of Cuba:
“The good thing today was that we won which is the most
important matter. The bad thing is that once again we lost the
intensity in the third set and had to come back. Against Canada
we are expecting a difficult match. The crowd will be behind
them and they have a solid team. We will do our best trying to
win the tournament.”
Ivan Contreras, Assistant Coach of Mexico: “I
think we started playing a little bit late. Apparently the guys
didn’t have the energy to compete in the first and half of the
second set. But it just shows us that at times, when our guys
want to play and when we have a good rhythm, we can make it
uncomfortable for other teams. We’re not at the stage where we
can say we can beat anybody, but we can be competitive and make
it difficult for other teams. We knew that Cuba and Canada
were the favourites and we have got to continue with our Olympic
dream by winning the match tomorrow.” |
