Nicaragua meets Cuba in semi finals

HAVANA, Cuba, June 27, 2016 – Nicaragua defeated Jamaica 3-0 (28-26, 25-16, 28-26) and will meet Cuba this Tuesday in the first semi final match of the NORCECA Boys U-19 Championship in the Sports City Coliseum.

Despite having the Jamaicans tried to block the outside hitters, Jonny Zeledón (19) and Byron Hernández (16) were the match best scorers. Nicaragua led the attack (39-33) and service (3-2), but the rivals dominated the effectiveness in the net (3-10).

On the Caribbean side, the opposite hitter Jovan Thomas (13) and the middle blocker Javarie James (12) led their team’s offensive.

“We are aware of meeting Cuba will be hard, but we will have less pressure as we have already guaranteed to be among the top-4 which is a better result than the 5th places achieved in the last two events at this age category”, commented happily Osma Hernández, coach of Nicaragua.

“For my boys, it will be a dream come true to play against the host squad. That’s why they would like to go in for a kill to demonstrate they also can.”

Zeledón, captain, classified the match as a battle, but they liked it. “Although when we started, we lost a bit of concentration. Then we reacted and the second set was better and I the following one we fought point to point to reach the victory.”

Steve Davis, Jamaican coach, congratulated the Central Americans on their performance and he also expressed the pride he felt for his pupils. “Since the first match they have been playing better every day and in the end they have succeeded beyond expectations. Now we need to keep them and make them gain experience to be also able to become champions in the future.”

Jovan Thomas, Caribbean captain, did not conceal his sadness for the result of the clash. “I admit Nicaragua played a good match and today they were better than us. Nevertheless we have learned a lot and I hope from now on to be a better team.”