Cuba score second triumph in Pool A

TIJUANA, Mexico, July 3, 2012 - Cuba defeated Nicaragua in straight sets (25-14, 25-11, 25-8) to earn its second victory of Pool A in the NORCECA Boy’s U-19 Continental Championship.

Santiago Uriarte was the top scorer with 13 tallies (with 6 aces), while Inover Romero converted 11 for Cuba. On the Nicaraguan side, Christopher Lee Lazo concluded with 6.

“This is our first international competition. I feel we are reaching the level we want one step at a time. Yesterday we played a little bit lower, but now we are in a higher one,” Cuba’s captain Ricardo Calvo said.

“We knew it was not going to be easy against Cuba and started a little nervous. We could calm down during the match and we tried to do our best,” stated Nicaragua’s captain Douglas Alexander Chavez.

“The experience of facing Cuba was very helpful for us, because we could see in which level we are. It was different from the match against Costa Rica, because we know each other, but against Cuba is a whole different thing, because of its players reach and height,” Nicaragua’s coach Osman Hernández stated.

Rodolfo Sánchez, coach of Cuba commented: “I feel we played better, not at our best yet, but less nervous and also expected a different match against Nicaragua after we saw them playing against Costa Rica. I hope they can achieve the best experiences from this tournament and wish them good luck.”