USA breeze past Cuba onto gold medal match

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, September 16, 2011 – Olympic and FIVB World Grand Prix champions United States outclassed Cuba in straight-sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-13) on Friday to advance to the gold medal match of the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship.

Destinee Hooker and Jordan Larson led USA with 15 and 14 points respectively while Foluke Akinradewo and Logan Tom added 8 and 7. Cuba’s Yanelis Santos charted 10 points.

The Americans held an 8-6 advantage in blocks and outserved Cuba 7-1 as Tom scored three aces and Hooker contributed two more. Once again the winners minimized their total errors with only 7 for the whole match against 27 by Cuba.

“It was a nice game for us and several of the girls were outstanding,” USA’s captain Jennifer Tamas said. “We played good from the service line and our defense was excellent.”

“Our team played particularly well against a strong team like Cuba,” USA’s Coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “The good thing about the victory is that it gives us the chance to qualify to the World Cup.”

“Congratulations to USA for a great match today,” Cuba’s Captain Yusidey Silie stated. “We made too many errors and were not able to play the way we are used to.”

“United States is always a tough opponent,” Cuba’s Coach Juan Carlos Gala commented. “They were better than us from start to finish.”