Cuba debut with overwhelming victory over Panama

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, September 13, 2011 – Cuba swept past Panama 25-13, 25-15-25-7 in Pool C to start its participation in the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship on Tuesday.

The serve-and-block game of Cub paid its dividends as the winners whitewashed the opposition 14-0 in the aces department and also dominated 10-2 in the blocking charts.

Yoana Palacios led Cuba with 16 points while Kenia Carccaces and Yusidey Silie each contributed 14 points. The setter Silie was outstanding also at the net and service line by registering four blocks and four aces.  Panama’s Joana Arroyo and Katherine Taju finished with 5 points apiece.

“We had a good game despite some errors at the beginning,” Cuba’s Silie said. “About tomorrow against Dominican Republic we are going out to look for the victory and the court will say the final word.”

“I feel like we battled against a world-class team like Cuba,” Panama’ Joana Arroyo said. “If we keep playing like that, we have a good chance against teams like Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago.”

“Panama did a good job and we played with some different combinations in preparation for tomorrow’s match against Dominican Republic,” Cuba’s Juan Carlos Gala said. “It is going to be a tough match of four or five sets, but the court will have to say.”

“It was a very interesting match for our team,” Panama’s coach Reynaldo Ortega said. “We had our mistakes but in general it was a good game for us.”