Cuba against Mexico in Women´s U20 Volleyball Continental Championship

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 29 (acn) Cuba will face Mexico today, in the quarterfinals of the 2016 NORCECA Women´s U20 Volleyball Continental Championship, held in the United States, after losing yesterday to the Dominican Republic.

With a stage at the NSU Arena of the Don Taft Univ. Center, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cubans passed to that phase after losing 0-3 (21-25, 18-25 and 24-26), in a game of unbeaten teams for the first spot in group A.
According to the website of the contest, which grants a ticket to the 2017 World Cup, the top scorer of the match was Dominican Natalia Martinez, who totaled 19 points, supported by Massiel Matos (13) and Vielka Peralta (10).
The most outstanding Cuban players were Diaris Perez (15), Heydi Casanova (9) and Laura Suarez (9).
However, Cubans were better in attack, with balance of 37 per 39 units, but fell short in blocking (8-11), service (0-5) and unforced errors (23-16).
With this result, the Dominican Republic advanced directly to semifinals for group A, with three wins and no losses, followed by Cuba (2-1) and Costa Rica (1-2), which won 3-0 (25 -23, 25-23, 25-17) over Haiti.
The also unbeaten squad of United States defeated 3-0 (33-31, 25-12 and 25-5) Mexico, performance that guaranteed them the first seat in Pool B and advancing to semifinals.
Americans (3-0) were escorted by Puerto Rico (2-1), which beat 3-0 (25-5, 25-4, 25-7) French St. Martin.
In today´s other quarter-final match, Puerto Ricans will face Costa Ricans, in search, like in the Cuba-Mexico game, of advancing to semifinals on Saturday, day that will define the four teams that will fight for the medals on Sunday.