Cuba defeats Mexico in Four Sets to Advance to Semifinals

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, September 18, 2024. - Cuba defeated Mexico 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-14) to secure a direct spot in Saturday’s semifinals of the U23 Men’s Pan American Cup, being held at the Anthony Nesty Sporthal in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Cuba earned their direct pass to the semifinals as Pool A winners with a 3-0 record. Mexico (2-1) will play in the quarterfinals on Friday against  third place from Pool B (Suriname or Peru).

Cuba outperformed in attacks (41-33), while Mexico led in serves (10-7). Both teams scored 9 blocking points. Cuba capitalized on 27 errors by Mexico, while committing 38 of their own.

Middle blocker Thiago Suárez once again led Cuba and was the top scorer of the match with 24 points (18 attacks, a match-high 5 blocks, and one ace). Outside hitter Bryan Camino collected 14 points (12 attacks, one block, and one ace).

Outside hitter Isay Toy led Mexico with 15 points (14 attacks and one block), followed by Franky Hernández, who also scored 15 points (8 attacks, 2 blocks, and a match-high of 5 aces).

The teams traded leads throughout the first set, with Mexico pulling ahead from point 20, scoring six consecutive points with the offense of Alejandro Adame and Isay Toy, as well as the blocking from Diego Ruiz, to take a 1-0 lead. Cuba jumped to a four-point advantage (10-6) in the second set with Thiago Suárez and Carlos Pereira leading the way, but Mexico managed to tie the score on numerous occasions starting from point 12. Cuba evened the match by taking the second set with a 12-9 advantage in attacks, where Yonni Iglesias also contributed. Thiago and Camino dominated Cuba's attack to recover from a five-point deficit (9-14) and put Cuba ahead two sets to one. With a seven-point lead (15-8), Cuba paved the way to victory with a commanding advantage, and opposite Daniel Martínez sealed the win with a kill.

Jesús Ángel Cruz, Head coach of Cuba:  “Mexico always comes to fight in this category; they are fighters, just like us. In the first set, their serving worked really well, especially No. 48 (Milatony), who caused us a lot of trouble in that rotation with his serve. After that, we made the necessary adjustments to control that serve. Our attack worked perfectly in the last set”.

José Alejandro Adame, setter of Mexico:  “We had a good first set. There was a lot of distraction afterward. I think we will meet Cuba again in the tournament final. Cuba's blocking caused us a lot of damage, along with the powerful attack. We need to make several adjustments”.