• Submitted by: admin
• International
• Sports
• 09 / 17 / 2007

Pedro Iznaga Ortiz paced Cuba with 14 points via 13 kills on 16 errorless swings to go with a block. Robertlandy Simon Aties added 10 points with seven kills on seven attacks, two blocks and an ace. Oreol Camejo Durruthy totaled three aces for Cuba as part of an eight-point performance.

Cuban Head Coach Blackwood Samuels thought his team could have played better and played down to the level of the young team from Trinidad and Tobago.

"We played well enough to win, but it was not our best game," he said. "Cuba will need to play at a higher level to reach the final."

Nolan Tash led Trinidad & Tobago with 14 points, all on kills from 32 attacks. Sean Morrison added eight points in the loss.

"Today in particular our ability to pass the service was nowhere close to how we could pass the ball. That transcended our attacking of the ball," Tash said. "It made the attacking even harder because the pass was not there."

Cuba jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the opening set and cruised to the 25-13 victory with a 60-percent kill efficiency. Durruthy served for six straight points, taking Cuba from a 17-10 lead to a 23-10 advantage, putting the set out of reach.

In the second set, the Cubans reached the second technical timeout leading 16-10, then continued to a 25-16 victory. Cuba tallied 14 kills on 21 attempts with only two hitting errors in the second set.