Cuba Loses to Mexico in Men's U-17 Volleyball

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 21 (ACN) The Cuban men's team lost today 0-3 against Mexico in the closing of the group stage, for Pool B, in the Continental Championship of the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (Norceca) U-17, a tournament that will conclude this Sunday at the Alexis Argüello Sports Complex in Managua, Nicaragua.

According to the website www.norceca.net, the Cubans, bronze medalists in the first edition in Veracruz 2023, fell with scores of 15-25, 23-25, 20-25, after one hour and 14 minutes of play.

The official team statistics of the match reflect that the disciples of Lian Sem Estrada were only better, and by a minimal margin, in blocking, six points to five, as the Mexicans outperformed them in attack (39-35), service (3-2), and opponent errors (19-28).

Individually, Francisco Romero stood out on the court, a key piece in the victory and the top scorer of the challenge with 17 points, all in attack, followed by Cuban Reinaldo Márquez (11: 10 attacks, 1 block, 0 serves).

Also highlighting for Mexico, with double digits, was Yanis Medrano (10: 8-1-1), and for Cuba, Dalian La O Gutierrez (9: 9-0-0).

With that result, Estrada's pupils advanced to this Friday's quarter-finals as the third-place team in Pool B with one victory and two defeats, surpassed by the United States (3-0) and Mexico (2-1), silver medal owners in the previous edition, and ahead of the Dominican Republic (0-3).
The Dominicans fell today 0-3 (13-25, 15-25, and 18-25) to the undefeated Americans.

The actions continue tonight, but in Pool A, from which Cuba's quarter-final opponents, the second-place team from Pool A, will emerge.

So far, defending champion Puerto Rico (2-0) leads Pool A, followed by Costa Rica (1-1), Barbados (1-1), and Nicaragua (0-2), in that order.

As agreed in the technical meeting, the pool leaders will advance directly to the semi-finals, and the second and third-place teams will advance to the quarter-finals.

The tournament is a qualifier for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) 2026 Men's U-17 World Championship, to be held in Doha, Qatar.

At least the Norceca champion will obtain a berth to the world event, while the International Federation (FIVB) will confirm at a later date the total number of spots assigned to the Norceca Confederation.