ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, August 18, 2025. – Cuba claimed its first win in the men’s volleyball tournament of the II Junior Pan American Games Asunción 2025, defeating the Dominican Republic in straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23).
With the result, Cuba improved its record in Pool B to 1-1 and will face Brazil in its final group-stage match. Dominican Republic, still winless, will play its last preliminary round match against Argentina.
The opening set featured several ties, although Cuba always held the edge. The Cubans reached set point following an attack error by Ronny Molina (24-22), but Moisés Ortiz responded with a block on Alejandro González (24-23). In the end, a Dominican service error sealed the set for Cuba.
In the second set, Cuba was more dominant. With strong offense from Thiago Suárez and Yusniel González, along with solid net defense by Alejandro González, the Cubans pulled away starting at point 11, building a comfortable five-point advantage (16-11) that allowed them to close out the set securely.
The third set unfolded much like the first, with the Dominican Republic staying close on the scoreboard (20-23). However, another error from the opponent handed Cuba the victory in straight sets.
The stats highlighted Cuba’s offensive edge, leading in attacks 43-32. The Dominican Republic was superior in serving (6-4), while both sides tallied 8 points from blocks. Cuba committed 18 errors, while the Dominican Republic totaled 20.
Individually, Cuban opposite hitter Alejandro González topped all scorers with 16 points, followed by team captain Bryan Camino with 12. On the Dominican side, opposite Adrián Figueroa contributed 15 points and Ronny Molina added 12.
After the match, Cuban captain Bryan Camino said: “We know the Dominican Republic well, we went out looking for the win, and the level of demand was lower than yesterday’s opponent. We gave it our all to fight for a spot in the next round, and this was a very important victory to achieve that goal.”
Meanwhile, Dominican head coach Alexander Gutiérrez stated: “This is a tough pool. Yesterday Cuba played five sets against Argentina, and they have players competing in foreign leagues, so it wasn’t easy for my team to face them. We don’t have the same background as those teams, but we are gaining a lot of experience here, which is what we are looking for. We want to measure ourselves to see how far we are, and based on the results, the differences in sets have been small details. That means we are on the right path; we just need to keep working.”
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