Cuba earns easy victory over Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, June 11, 2014 – Cuba cruised to a comfortable victory in straight sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) in the third and last match of Pool A of the XIII Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup at Juan de la Barrera Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Cuba held a 10-6 advantage in the blocking charts with Alena Rojas finishing with five blocks of her own.

Melissa Vargas was the main weapon of Cuba finishing with 16 points. Jennifer Alvarez and Rojas each produced 9 points while Sulian Matienzo added 8. Andrea Rangel topped Mexico with 10 points.

“We were well motivated for this match against Mexico, a battling team,” Matienzo said. “They have good field defense but we beat them over the net. Our goal here is to qualify to next year’s Grand Prix and this is a good first step.”

“I am very pleased with the girls, a very young team,” Cuba’s Coach Juan Carlos Gala said. “It was important to score this victory over Mexico, a team from NORCECA. It was the first match and the players still need to adjust to the altitude of Mexico City. We will play better in the next matches.”

“It was a good experience for the girls,” Mexico’s Jorge Azair commented afterwards. “We need to play this type of opponents in preparation for the NORCECA playoffs and improve our chances of qualifying to the world championship.”