Cuba loses to U.S. and advances to quarterfinals in NORCECA continental Men's Championship

HAVANA, Cuba, cUBA, Sep 8 (ACN) Cuba's men's volleyball team lost 2-3 in Pool B to the United States and advanced to Friday's quarterfinals of the North, Central America and Caribbean Continental Championship (Norceca), held at the Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia, United States.

According to the website www.norceca.net, the disciples of coach Jesus Cruz fell in the first two sets, 22-25 and 17-25, reacted in the third and fourth, 26-24 and 25-22, to leave everything ready for the decisive fifth and final set, in the closing of the group phase and in a duel of undefeated players.

The official statistics reflect the parity of the match, with the biggest difference in blocking, with better results for the United States in blocking, 17 points to seven, as in service was by the minimum (6-5), while Cuba got two points in attack (59-57) and both teams were even in their own errors (31-31).

Individually, the top scorer of the match was US player Torey Defalco, who accumulated 26 points, 19 in attack, six in blocking and one in service, followed by Cuba's Marlon Yant (22/18-4-0).

Also outstanding for Cuba were Jesus Herrera (14/13-1-0), Miguel Angel Lopez (13/10-0-3) and Javier Concepcion (11/10-1-0), while for the United States, Aaron Russell (20/17-2-1), Maxwel Holt (12/7-3-2) and Mawel Bosquecillo (12/7-3-2) also stood out.

With this result, the Cubans will face Mexico Friday, in the quarterfinal stage, a day that will be completed with the Dominican Republic-Puerto Rico match.

The undefeated US and Canadians advanced directly to Saturday's semifinals, and will wait for the winners of the quarterfinals to define who will compete for the bronze and gold medals on Sunday.

The teams competing in the Continental Championship will receive points for the world ranking, a list that determines the qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.