Germany beat Cuba and get into the top 8

Mexicali, Mexico, October 9 2013.- Germany beat Cuba in straight sets (25-22, 25-22, 25-20) and clinched a berth in the classification round for places 5 to 8 at FIVB Womens U23 World Championship.

Carina Aullenbrock led the German team with 11 points, while Leonie Schwertmann, Jennifer Geerties and Katharina Schwabe scored 9 apiece. On the Cuban side, captain Daymara Lescay closed with 9 points and Alena Rojas with 8.

The Germans had an 8-4 advantage in team aces. Both teams were tied in block kills and points surrendered by unforced errors.

First two sets were very tight, with a three points difference. Cuba tried to recover but had some defensive problems. Also in some spikes, the Caribbean team struggled and put the ball outside.

Germany’s captain Jennifer Geerties returned to the court after recovering from an ankle injury. However, coach Jens Tietbohl had to apply more changes in the lineup.

Libero Anna Pogany could not play due to an illness and was substituted by Alisha Ossowski, who originally plays as Outside Hitter.

“It is not new for me, I had played as a libero before, but more as emergency, so we could solve this and win the match,” She remarked.

“Congratulations to Germany they surpassed us in all the lines and had a very good tactical plan that affected us by the middle of the court. They served well and we had a bad reception,” stated Cuban Coach Juan Carlos Gala.

“We had to prepare for Cuba, this was a key match, so we worked hard with our block and defense a lot. It is nice to have this German team in the top eight at this Championship,” said Jens Tietbohl, head coach of Germany.

“Congratulations to Germany for this victory. They served very well and gave the best at this match, We went out to the court to develop our game, but we were not be able to do so,” said Daymara Lescay of Cuba.

“We are satisfied with this performance. We put a lot of pressure against Cuba and tried to make difficult their reception and also worked hard against their middle blockers. We hare happy for winning and now we prepare to travel to Tijuana”, German captain Jennifer Geerties said.