Cuba beats Dominican Republic at Final 6

EDMONTON, CANADA. Sept. 22, 2023:  Cuba picked up its second win today at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Men’s Final Six, September 19 to 24 at the Flair Airlines Hangar (Expo Centre), in Edmonton, Canada.

The Cubans beat Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22).

Although Cuba made many more costly errors (28-17), their strength and power pushed them through each set. Cuba led in attack points (43-32), blocks (8-5) and service aces (7-2).

Cuban José Gómez Reyes led his country’s team in scoring with 15 attack points, one block, and two aces.  Gerson Ezequiel Toribio Martinez led the Dominican effort with 12 points.

Cuba has two wins and two losses; Dominican Republic has yet to earn a win at this tournament.  

Manuel Espinosa, head coach of Cuba:  "A very important match today against Dominican Republic because it defined many things for us. We guaranteed to fight for a medal today, so it was a very important win. The match was pretty balance, we thought that it was going to be easier, but the Dominican team fought and did not play bad, and they put a lot of pressure on us. But well, in the end we won with the possibilities that we had during the match and the tactical plan we had established. Congratulations to them, even though they did not win, they played a really good match.” 

Alexander Gutierrez, head coach of Dominican Republic: 

“We have problems with our attacking; our efficiency in attack is very low. We have to work more and more to improve in that area. If you don’t score on attack, it’s impossible to close sets. But as far as the experience of playing in this tournament is concerned, it’s very good for us. We still have very young players, but the future looks good for us. Especially coming from a small country like Dominican Republic. We just must continue to work hard.”