Cuba joined United States and Canada as NORCECA's men teams qualified to the FIVB World Championship in Poland
Havana, Cuba, May 25, 2014 – Cuba advanced to the FIVB Men’s World Championship in Poland by defeating Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-14, 26-28, 25-18, 25-12) in the NORCECA Pool P Qualification Tournament at Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum on Saturday.
Rolando Cepeda led four Cubans with double digits in the score charts with a match-high 23 points. Javier Jimenez, Osmany Uriarte and Isbel Mesa contributed 14, 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the victory.
Jose Miguel Cáceres was the top scorer for the Dominican Republic with 17 points, followed by Elvis Contreras with 13.
Cuba held a margin of 15-4 in the blocking category and committed 22 unforced errors to 32 by the defeated side.
“The boys followed the tactical plan and reduced the errors,” Cuba’s coach Rodolfo Sanchez said. “They played with courage, gave their best effort and showed a good attitude.”
“The team rose to the occasion on the difficult moments against a strong opponent,” Cepeda said. “As we play more the errors will be less and we are working on it.”
“Even though I have seen progress in the twenty days I’ve been with the team, today we played bad,” said Jose Alvarez Cutiño, the Cuban coach of the Dominicans. “We need to improve our counterattacks. They are talented players and have to be prepared well for the final playoffs.”
In the match for third place, Barbados edged Suriname in five thrilling sets (31-29, 23-25, 25-14, 24-26, 16-14).
Shawn Simpson was the best scorer for Barbados with 19 points followed by Fabian Cox and Akeem Payne each with 15 while Ammuniki Wood charte 11 points.
Suriname’s Antoine Vilet had a match-high 27 points and Keven Sporkslede added 21. Clyde Fraser and Roberto Joval added 12 apiece.