Cuba coasts past Nicaragua in Pool Play at the Challenge Cup

EDMONTON, Canada, May 18, 2018, Cuba dominated Nicaragua today 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-10) at the NORCECA Women’s Challenger Cup in Edmonton, Canada.

Sulian Matienzo Linares was Cuba’s top scorer with 13 points.

The Challenger Cup was originally a six-team tournament, but Costa Rica withdrew at the last minute due to travel issues.

Tomorrow, Cuba plays Puerto Rico in the hopes of advancing to Sunday’s gold medal match.

Host Canada does not play today, but returns to the tournament tomorrow in a match against Trinidad and Tobago.

Wilfredo Robinson Pupo, Head Coach of Cuba:  “I expected the team to play just as they did. We plan to play better tomorrow, but I think we did good today. This tournament is really good experience for the Central American games in July. This as well as the match tomorrow against Puerto Rico will help us prepare for that. The game was good because we played against Nicaragua but tomorrow our level will have to be better and not be too confident against Puerto Rico.

Sulian Matienzo Linares, Captain of Cuba: “We expected to win 3-0 and this match will help us to prepare for tomorrow against Puerto Rico. So it went how we planned. Some of our best players did not play but I think tomorrow we will have our best six players on the court.

Rene Quintana, Head Coach of Nicaragua:  "Cuba is a very strong team. We are just starting out playing with this group of women, so it was a good test to see how we played against a very strong opponent like Cuba. We have a lot to grow and learn from a match like this."

"We were really hoping to play Costa Rica. They are very close to us in terms of ranking, and it would have been a good test to see how we played against them. It was tough to play the two monsters in Puerto Rico and Cuba, they are both very very good teams. So this week was more of a learning experience for us"

Claudia Noguera, Captain of Nicaragua: "It was the first time we classified for these Norceca games. Playing a team like Cuba is good to show us the level of play. We have a lot to improve on if we want to keep coming to these games."

"The Canadian people and hosts are very friendly and thankful. It's a very good experience to come here and play good teams. It really pushes us to get better and keep coming to the games."