Cuba loses to Mexico and finishes fourth in Norceca continental volleyball (m)

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 24 (ACN) The Cuban men's volleyball team finished on Monday in fourth place in the North, Central America and Caribbean Continental Championship (Norceca), after losing 1-3 in the bronze medal match against Mexico, held at the Auditorio del Pueblo in the city of Durango.

According to the Norceca website, the Cubans won the first set, 25-22, but the hosts reacted and swept the second, third and fourth sets, 25-18, 30-28 and 27-25, in that order, after two hours and two minutes of play.

The top scorer of the match was Mexico's Diego Gonzalez, who accumulated 22 points, 19 in attack, two in blocking and one in service, followed by Cuba's Miguel Angel Lopez (19/15-1-3).

For Cuba, Jesus Herrera (18/13-1-4) also stood out with double digits, while Josue de Jesus Lopez (13/11-0-2) and Axel Manuel Tellez (11-10-0-1) stood out for the local team.

Once again, the Cuban players had the weak point in the errors committed that give points to the rivals, falling 41-33, as well as the attack (40-52), since they were only better in blocking (10-5) and serving (10-6).

Cuba arrived in Durango as defending champions and maximum winner in the history of men's volleyball in the Norceca Confederation, with 16 titles, followed by the United States (9) and Canada (1).

The Cuban men's teams accumulated in addition to their 16 crowns, five second places and four third places, ahead of the Americans (9-11-4), the Canadians (1-5-14), the Mexicans (0-3-2), the Puerto Ricans (0-1-2) and the Dominicans (0-1-0).