LEÓN, Guanajuato, July 27, 2025.- Cuba staged a memorable comeback to defeat Canada 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-18, 17-15) in their opening match of the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup held at the Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato.
Canada started strong, jumping to a 10-4 lead in the first set, supported by their blocking (4-2) and aces (4-1), with Raya Surinx and Lucy Borowski as their key players. Despite Cuba’s improvement in the second set, the Canadians managed to edge out a tight finish to go up 2-0.
Under pressure, Cuba responded in the third set, sealing it with an ace from Lisania Grafort that kept their hopes alive. In the fourth set, the Caribbean side took an early 7-1 lead, showing smart play and doubling Canada in attack points (16-8), led by Lisania Grafort, Lianet García and Claudia Tarín.
The fifth set was electrifying. Canada rallied from 6-9 to tie the score at 9 behind Borowski’s offense. A block from Surinx put the North Americans at match point 14-12, but Cuba answered with a kill from Grafort and a block by Yalain de la Peña to level the score. After exchanging points to 15-15, Yalian de la Peña closed with a powerful spike and Yensy Kindelán sealed the Cuban victory with a block.
Cuba led in attacks 61-59, while Canada held the edge in blocks (13-8) and aces (8-6). The difference came from unforced errors, where the Cubans gave up fewer points (27-34).
Four players from each team scored in double digits. Lisania Grafort led Cuba with 15 points, followed by Whitney James with 13, while Lianet García and Claudia Tarín each tallied 11; Yalain de la Peña added 10. For Canada, Raya Surinx topped all scorers with 19 points, Madyson Saris contributed 18, Lucy Borowski had 17 and Jessica Andrews 12.
In the next Pool B match, Cuba will face Nicaragua, while Canada will go up against hosts Mexico.
Cuban head coach Wilfredo Robinson said, “A victory that truly has a lot of flavor and character. The team knew how to come back and reorganize, even though we had many deficiencies. We must improve our blocking and reception. Canada gave us the opportunity for this great win.”
Matt Krueger, Head coach of Canada spoke “We started off aggressive, we were playing some good volleyball. Credits for Cuba, they turned it around in the third set, they made few switches that gave them that spark, and we couldn’t quite catch up”.
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