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EDMONTON, Canada, January 8, 2016 – Cuba triumphed in an
exciting third set to overcome Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-22, 25-20,
33-31) in day one of the NORCECA Men’s Olympic Volleyball
Qualification Tournament at Saville Sports Centre in Edmonton of
Friday night.
Rolando Cepeda spearheaded the victory with a match-high 23
points, followed by Osmany Uriarte and Javier Jimenez with 11
and 9 points, respectively. Ezequiel Cruz and Mannix Roman
topped Puerto Rico with 9 and 8 points.
Cuba held a big 13-5 advantage in the blocking category while
Puerto Rico had the edge 6-5 in aces. The winners led in attacks
43-32 but also committed 30 unforced errors to 22 by the losers.
Rodolfo Sanchez, coach of Cuba:
“We played very well for the first two sets, following the
tactical plan against Puerto Rico. Then we had many difficulties
in the third set when we committed a lot of errors. Fortunately
for us we were able to recover and come from behind in the
closing moments of the match. I hope we continue improving and
win again tomorrow before Sunday’s match against Canada and see
what happens.”
Rolando Cepeda, Captain of Cuba:
“It was a very exciting third set and I am happy about the
victory today. The key for us was that we stayed together under
the pressure of the last set. I only expect our team to continue
playing better and better and face Canada on Sunday. The key for
us against Canada would be playing aggressive and our Cuban
style of volleyball.”
Luis Javier Gaspar, Coach of Puerto Rico:
“We played alright. We made too many errors, especially in
serving, which we needed to be in to create more problems in
their reception. I think that was the difference, especially in
the middle part of each set, we got down four or five points,
and that’s hard to come back from with a team that side-outs so
well like Cuba.”
Enrique Escalante, Captain of Puerto Rico:
“We made too many errors today. Cuba took advantage of that.
They are a big physical team, but we worked hard during this
game and we will get better as the tournament goes along.” |
