Cuba Headlines

Cuba News, Breaking News, Articles and Daily Information


Cuba Ends Volleyball World Cup with Win over Serbia

The Cuban womens volleyball team finished fourth overall in World Cup play in Japan, ending the tournament with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-22) win over fifth place Serbia.

The three teams that earned Beijing Olympics tickets were Italy, the US and Brazil. Cuba will have another chance later in an American continental tournament.

From the onset, the Cubans pressured at the net, above all with good blocking, which forced the rival Serbians to look awkward at times.

Once again Rachel Sanchez and Nancy Carrillo put up a formidable wall in the center while Yumilka Ruiz and Kenia Carcases shined from the corners with their diagonal spikes.

The Cubans did a great job managing eight wins vs. three losses, after arriving late to Japan without time to get adjusted to the time change and climate. They only lost to three very tough teams: Italy, the United States and Brazil.

THREE QUALIFY FOR BEIJING

The Italians had an 11-0 record and only lost two sets in the entire tournament. The US finished in third place with a 9-2 record after losing their final match to Italy in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 27-25).

Brazil also ended up 9-2 for the tournament, but took second place on points. The South Americans beat host Japan (25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18) in their final match on Friday.

Cuba Finished fourth with its 8-3 record, Serbia was next at 7-4 followed by Poland (6-5), South Korea (4-7) the Dominican Republic (3-8), Thailand (2-9), Peru (1-10) and Kenya (0-11).

Source: Alfonso Nancianceno, Granma


Related News


Comments