Cuban Women's Volleyball Team Qualifies to the World Cup

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 9 (acn) The Cuban women's volleyball team qualified to the World Cup in Japan by defeating the Dominican Republic 3-1 in the final round of the Champions Cup of the North, Central American and Caribbean (NORCECA) held at Havana's Sports City Coliseum.

Despite losing the first set (22-25), the young Cuban squad reacted and won three sets in a row (25-18, 25-13 and 25-23), with highlights once again for Melissa Vargas, top scorer of the match with 20 points, 14 of these in attack, two in blocking and four in service.
Sulain Matienzo (13-10-2-1) and Alena Rojas (13-6-5-2) also excelled among winners, while Marianne Person (10- 5-3-2) and Claudia Arias (9-4-5-0) shone among Dominicans, who qualified as leaders to the world tournament in Japan.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico beat Canada 3-0 (25-21, 25-17 and 26-24), a result that almost guarantees the presence of that team in the World Cup (WC).
Aurea Cruz (13-10-3-0) and Karima Ocasio (12-8-4-0) stood out among players of the Cuban squad, while Jamine Thibeault (10-5-4-1) and Tabitha Love (10-8-2-0) were the most outstanding ones of the Canadian team.
The Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico ended with a similar balance of wins and losses (2-1), but the first one accumulated more points and finished first, a performance that confirmed them as leaders of NORCECA for the WC, to be held from August 22 to September 5.
In the tiebreaker for places second and third and for the second ticket to the World Cup, figures favored the local squad.