Cuba beat Haiti to secure spot in the finals of Pool Q

HAVANA, Cuba, May 15, 2014 – Hosts Cuba defeated Haiti in straight sets 25-13, 25-12, 25-14 to secure a spot in the final stages of the NORCECA Women’s Pool P Tournament, a qualifier to the FIVB World Championship 2014 in Italy.

Once again the promising Melissa Vargas led the Cuban side with 17 points and Rosanna Giel contributed 10 in the win achieved in less than one hour.

Cuba’s coach Juan Carlos Gala said “teams in the pool are at the same level and we did some changes and the quality stayed the same, which is a good sign. Also we improved the attack and demanded more and more from the players.”

Giel, the captain, was happier than the day before “because today we went out more motivated and played more united, something we had worked for.”

Haiti’s coach Frederic Francois said: “It is very difficult to win against Cuba because of their high level, but this is a learning experience for my players.”

Haiti’s captain Carline Pierre praised the quickness of the local players saying “it was very difficult for us to adjust to that type of play and couldn’t coordinate very well.”