Cuba advances to semifinals of Continental Championship

QUEBEC CITY, CANADA. Sept. 01, 2023:  With a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) win over Puerto Rico today, Cuba secures a spot in the semifinals of the 2023 NORCECA Senior Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship, held at the PEPS’ Amphithéatre Desjardins-Université Laval in Quebec.

Even though it was a sweep, Puerto Rico kept it competitive in all three sets. Cuba led in attack (41-37), and service aces 4-2 as well as picking up more points from their opponent’s errors (22-18). Puerto Rico slightly led in blocking points (9-8)

Greisy Fine of Cuba led all scoring with 18 points and was named “player of the game.”

Paola Santiago (13) and Alondra Vázquez (12) led the scoring effort for Puerto Rico.

Cuba will face either Canada or the USA in Saturday’s semifinals.

Fernando Morales, head coach of Puerto Rico, “We never found the rhythm of our game and I think that’s been the story of the whole tournament. We have a young group that’s played a lot of tournaments, I think this is our fifth this year, and it’s no excuse but they are showing signs of fatigue. We have to find a way to manage it better so we can be better for the last two games, and we’re going to try to come back stronger tomorrow.”

Osmani García, head coach of Cuba: “Today, we are very pleased with the team because despite the injuries and all the complications we have experienced since coming from the Dominican Republic, we talked to the players and did a tactical job that worked perfectly. The team’s fighting spirit continues to grow. The team is coming together like a family in volleyball. We are very happy. We gave the due respect to Puerto Rico, which has a high level, they play very good volleyball, but today things went in our favor.”