Cuba blanked Dominican Republic

 

WINNIPEG, Canada, September 21, 2007.- This will no doubt be an emotional match. Cuba has shown so far that they are composed and here to win, however, the Dominican Republic believe that they at a point in their development that they rightfully belong in the mix with top teams such as Cuba and the USA. With that in mind, they enter tonight’s match with the confidence that they can defeat Cuba and take that next step towards Olympic qualification.

 

Both teams came out in set one with the artillery firing, exchanging high-flying kills. Cuba held the advantage at the first break in play by a score of 8-6. By the second break, Cuba had increased their lead off some great blocking to 16-12. The Dominican’s would ultimately give the set away as a result of a number of unforced errors losing 25-15.

 

Set two Cuba started where they left off leading 8-7 lead at the first time out. Cuba remained on top to the mid-way point leading 16-11. The Dominican’s didn’t seem to have a solution for Cuba in this set as they marched on to take set to by a score of 25-19.

 

The Dominican Republic would need to come out in set three prepared to battle if they wanted to continue on in this match. Unfortunately, Cuba was not prepared to let this happen and they opened a quick 4-1 lead and remained in front 8-5 at the first technical time out. The Dominican Republic began displaying the composure and confidence we are used to seeing and managed to tie the set up at 11-11, but Cuba stole one back to take a 16-15 lead at the second official time out. The lead would change hands a few more times, but when the dust finally settled Cuba had taken a 2-point lead and won the set 25-23.

 

Post Match Quotes:

Team Dominican Republic

Cosiri Rodriguez – Captain

“This match we came out to play volleyball and Cuba came out very strong and focused on the game and their reception was very, very good. They had a god match blocking, defending and we tried to give it all, but they stopped us and took advantage of our weaknesses. We will continue tomorrow and we will go out for the bronze medal.”

 

Miguel Cruz Beato - Head Coach

“I think the match was good. Cuba in our region has been the most complete team this year and have been performing very well and there is no doubt that their serve was very strong and hurt us. Never the less I am satisfied because I have some very young players and they have performed well for their age. I wish Cuba the best of luck in the World Cup and hope they qualify for the Olympic through the World Cup.”

 

Team Cuba

Yumilka Ruiz Luaces- Captain

“I agree that it was a good match. We had a good victory, and we came here to earn a spot at the world Cup. We knew this was not going to be an easy match and that they were going to play well. Our serve was very good, and we are very happy with the victory.”

 

A. Perdomo Estrella- Head Coach

“As for today’s mach, it was our goal to qualify for the World Cup and we did that. We cannot cheat ourselves, we know that we played well, but the Dominican team was missing players. That said, tomorrow regardless of our opponent we will play hard, we always play hard. ”