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TORONTO, Canada July 19, 2015 – Javier Jimenez and Rolando
Cepeda scored 26 and 21 points, respectively, to send Cuba to a
thrilling five-set 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11)
victory over Brazil in Pool A of the men’s volleyball tournament
at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
The full house at Exhibition Center, on the edge of their seats
for most of the match, watched Cuba scoring a tournament-high 17
blocks against the taller Brazilians with Cepeda and Livan
Osoria leading the way with four blocks apiece.
Douglas Souza finished with 23 points for Brazil, followed by
Renan Buiatti and Mauricio Silva with 18 and 16 points,
respectively.
Brazil gave away 35 points with their errors, two more than Cuba
while the winners held a 17-6 margin in the blocking category.
Rodolfo Sanchez, coach of Cuba: “The key of the victory was the
tactical discipline the team maintained and also the attitude.
We played much better than the first day and our blocking was an
important piece today. Overall it was a better performance from
our side despite some lapses in key moments.”
Javier Jimenez, player of Cuba: “I am glad with my production
today to help the team to score the win. We lost the lead in the
fourth set but kept our minds clear and were able to win the
tiebreaker. We were aggressive since the beginning and went into
the court with a winning mentality.”
Rolando Cepeda, Captain of Cuba: “We came out to get this
victory and this win gives a bigger chance to our team. The
match was solved on our side, working fundamentally. Brazil is a
great team and we had to play in that way and my teammates
showed a great level.”
Luiz Leonaldo Roberley, Coach of Brazil: “This was a very
difficult match for us, because we are bringing very young
players. Cuba is an experienced team that has played the World
League and a great number of big games. They looked stronger in
the competition. We had some ups and downs. However, for us this
was a good experience to increase the development of our
players.”
Douglas Souza, Player of Brazil: “It was too difficult. We
worked hard to overcome the 1-2 deficit, tied the match and
tried to go on, but this was tougher than I could imagine. I
congratulate Cuba for the result”.
Otavio Pinto, Player of Brazil: “Too difficult match with very
strong services as well as the attack. They served too high and
this was also a big blocking battle. So we need to calm down to
work more against that kind of blocking game. However I could
say in general terms that this was a good match”. |
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