Cuba to semi-finals of U-19 Volleyball Championships

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 27 (acn) Cuba directly advanced to semifinals of the NORCECA Boys U-19 Volleyball Championships when defeating Mexico in the final day of Pool B of the preliminary stage, at the Sports City Coliseum in Havana.

Cubans, unbeaten leaders of that group, won 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-16) in an hour and 46 minutes, according to NORCECA website.
The top scorer of the match was Mexican Miguel Sarabia, who totaled 19 points, supported by Raymond Stephens (12), while Rey Issac Flores (18), Cristian Rojas (16) and Jose Carlos Romero (16) highlighted for the squad coached by Nicolas Vives.
The other Cuban starters were Henry Jose Pelayo (7), Raiko Altunaga (6) and José Alain Camejo (2), with Lazaro Yudiel Arrechea as libero.
The stats of the match show that Cuba led the spikes (49-37), and blocking (14-7), while Mexico was better in service (6-2) and unforced errors (32-34).
In the other game of Pool B, Jamaica won 3-0 (25-11, 25-20 and 25-16) over Antigua and Barbuda, while in Group A, Nicaragua beat 3-2 (28-26, 25-20, 13- 25, 20-25, 15-13) Costa Rica.
United States joined Cuba directly in semifinals as it also remained unbeaten in Group A after defeating in straight sets Dominican Republic (25-16, 25-17, and 25-21).
The event, which grants two berths for the World Championship in 2017, will have its quarterfinals stage today; the semi-final will be on Tuesday, while the medals discussion will be on Wednesday.