SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, August 21, 2026.- Cuba battled through five sets in its opening match of the 2026 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship to defeat Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-11, 24-26, 25-15, 25-27, 15-9) in Pool B action on Friday at the “Prof. Ricardo Gioriver Arias” National Volleyball Palace.
On the second day of Pool B competition, Cuba (1-0) will face the Dominican Republic while Puerto Rico (0-1) will take on Costa Rica.
Cuba held the advantage in attacks (62-58), blocks (18-4) and aces (3-1), with its commanding blocking advantage making the biggest difference. The Cubans also scored 31 points from Puerto Rico’s errors while conceding 25.
Diaris Pérez led Cuba with 22 points on 21 attacks and one block, followed by Evilania Martínez with 19, Yalain Regla De La Peña with 17 and Laura Suárez with 10.
For Puerto Rico, Decelise Champion scored 22 points, Paola Santiago added 16 and Diana Reyes finished with 11.
Luizomar De Moura, Cuba coach: “I’m proud of what we’re building. Regardless of the result, I’m proud because the team is more disciplined and we’ve improved a lot technically. It has been a process, and now we have to learn to analyze the game and put that into practice on the court.”
Juan Carlos Nuñez, Puerto Rico coach: “Offensively, we didn’t start the match well. Cuba did a good job with its blocking and was able to control our offense, and that’s why we weren’t able to close out the match in our favor.”
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