Cuba defeated Guatemala at U21 men's volleyball continental championship

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 12 (ACN) Cuba's men's volleyball team defeated Guatemala 3-2 in Group B of the North, Central America and Caribbean Continental Championship (Norceca) U21, to be held until Sunday in Nogales, Mexico, a qualifying tournament for the 2025 World Championship of the category.

According to the website www.norceca.net, the disciples of technical director Lian Sem Estrada lost the first set, 22-25, reacted in the second and third, 25-20 and 25-20, fell in the fourth, 22-15, and materialized the success in the fifth, 15-13, with a highlight for Daniel Guillermo Martinez.

Cuban Martinez was the top scorer of the match with 27 points, 22 in attack, four in blocking and one in service, supported by his teammates Kelly Brian Oviedo (14/14-0-0) and Carlos Javier Larrea (13/11/2/0), but his team gave up 36 points for their own errors and 31 for their rivals.

For Guatemala, Luis Roberto Mendizabal (23/18-5-0), Roberto Carlos Racinos (15/14-0-1) and Jose Luis Samayoa (12/8-2-2), the other three players with double digits in the challenge, stood out individually.

The official collective statistics of the match showed better results for Cuba in attack (65-51), while the Guatemalans did better in blocking (11-10) and serving (5-3).

Wednesday, Cuba will face Puerto Rico and on Thursday, Canada, in the closing of the preliminary group phase.