Cuba to battle for fifth place against Mexico

 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, October 12, 2019.- Cuba will battle for fifth place against Mexico after beating Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-9)  at the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

On the last day of competition, Cuba and Mexico will battle for fifth place and a spot for the NORCECA Olympic qualifier; Trinidad and Tobago goes against Costa Rica for seventh place.

 

Cuba struggled to stop Trinidad and Tobago’s hard work and fighting spirit, specially recovering from an early 1-4 deficit in the second set and tumbling the entire set up to 20 even.

 

Cuba held a comfortable advantage in all categories, with huge 36-18 margin in attacks, 5-2 in blocks and 11-6 in aces. Cuba allowed 21 points on errors against 23.

 

Cuban outside hitter Claudia Tarin scored a match-high of 16 points on 13 kills and 3 aces, the only player with double-figures. Also on Cuba’s side, opposite Dezirett De La Caridad Madan added 8 points, middle blocker Amelia Morozo and opposite Greisy Fine contributed with 7 points apiece. Outside hitter Kiune Fletcher topped Trinidad and Tobago with 7 points.

 

Gretell Moreno, setter of Cuba: “We played at their level, we didn’t play our game and we had difficulties getting into our rhythm. At the moment we are a team that commits too many unforced errors and it’s harder; we failed too many serves. Tomorrow we will play with all we have against Mexico, we hope to have a good attitude, take advantage of each player’s skill and exploit our attacks to come out winning”.

 

Tomás Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba: “All the sets should have been like the third, we didn’t drop serves, we mixed, and we played fast. What we had planned was to put the ball in game and let Trinidad make their game to take advantage of their technical weakness; it was the other way around, we made things easy for them dropping the ball. Our serves were uneasy, they weren’t disciplined and the opponent did not fail. It’s hard to educate them and tomorrow it will be really close”.

 

Sean Morrison, Head Coach of Trinidad and Tobago: “The confidence in the sets one and two made the difference; I told my players not to think about Cuba’s big name and to give their best playing like giants, keep fighting. It was a very good match because they could see the ability of this team and what they can do. Our game plan worked and we put Cuba in trouble, it’s just a matter of experience”.