Blocking carries Cuba to victory against Iran

BRNO, Czech Republic, June 27, 2017 – Some fantastic blocking efforts, led by Osniel Lazaro Melgarejo, Jose Israel Masso and Marlon Yang, lay the foundation of Cuba’s first win in Pool E of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship.

Cuba piled up as many as 17 kill blocks on the way to a 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 13-25, 15-8) victory over Iran’s fighting squad, with Melgarejo topping the overall scorers’ chart of the match with 20 points. Miguel Lopez contributed 16 points in the win.

Melgarejo and Masso each had five blocks and Yang added four in the victory.

Nicolas Vives Coffigny, coach of Cuba: “It was a really long match. We play more and more stable. The main goal is the victory.”

Adrian Eduardo Goide, captain of Cuba: “I think we had a really good game and we fought hard to win the match, which was difficult against Iran.”