Cuba finishes third in U23 Women's Pan American Volleyball Cup

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 26 (acn) Cuba won the bronze medal and a world ticket at the 3rd U23 Women's Pan American Volleyball Cup when defeating the host squad of Peru at Cerrado del Cañete Coliseum, in the city of the same name, where the title went to the Dominican Republic.

Cubans beat 3-2 (25-14, 25-19, 16-25, 12-25 and 15-8) Peru, result that earned them one of the two berths for the 2017 WC the tournament granted for teams from the North, Central American and Caribbean Confederation (NORCECA).
However, the leading scorer of the match was the local Angela Leyva, with 25 points, supported by Maguilaura Frias (11), according to the website of the contest.
Meanwhile, Yalennis Diaz (14), Dairis Perez (13), Claudia Hernandez (12), Dalila Palma (11) and Heidy Casanova (10) highlighted for the Cuban side.
According to the match stats, both squads matched in attack (42 points each) and unforced errors (28), although Cubans were better in service (8-5), but Peru dominated in blocking (16-15).
In the preliminary stage, Cuba achieved two wins, against Costa Rica (3-0) and Trinidad and Tobago (3-0), and three losses, Argentina (1-3), Dominican Republic (0-3) and Peru (2-3).
In semifinals, the squad coached by Roberto Garcia lost 0-3 to the Dominicans, and then beat 3-2 the host team in the bronze medal discussion.
The Dominican Republic got the other ticket granted by NORCECA as they were the champions of the tournament when defeating 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) Argentine, who also qualified to next year´s World Cup due to their condition of leaders of the South American Confederation.