Cuba battles to beat Mexico

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Juy 29, 2014 - Cuba beat 3-1 Mexico (25-17, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16) in a hard battle in the Pool C NORCECA U21 Men’s Continental Championship during the first day of competition at “Palacio de los Deportes”.

Abraham Alfonso and Osmany Uriarte led all scorers each with 18 points for Cuba while Mexico’s Enrique Ugalde charted ten points. Cuba led in attacks 53-26, blocks 8-4 and aces 8-3. Cuba gave away 38 points via unforced errors with Mexico finishing with 29.

Cuba will face the United States on Wednesday at 8:00 pm and Mexico will play Nicaragua at 2:00 pm.

Quotes

Alan Martinez, Mexico’s Captain: "We had many ups and downs. After winning the third set we saw that we could do well, but we couldn’t keep it going. The best we had was the reception. We handle that aspect and it helped us to have more options. Tomorrow we will have a match against United States a team that we believe is at the same level.”

Victor Porras, Mexico’s Coach: "It was a difficult game. We did not know what to expect from Cuba –their deficiencies and qualities. We had complications with the reception in some rotations, but we kept up the pressure. This is not over yet, we have more matches, the boys are motivated and we will analyze the match to work on our mistakes."

Ricardo Calvo, Cuba’s Captain: "We lacked the concentration at times. In the fourth set we went out to win and we had no problems. We took advantage of the low blocking and moved the attack well something we have trained a lot. I trust the players we have and hopefully things will go well in the upcoming games."

Pavel Pimienta, Cuba’s Coach: "We didn’t have the concentration. The boys came in a little tense in their first game and they made ​​mistakes giving points to the opponent. I think it was a good game, but they (Cuba) had to impose themselves. We expect to win tomorrow (against United States) because they will enter with more confidence."