GUADALAJARA, Jalisco, September 18, 2025. – Cuba earned its first victory at the 2025 NORCECA Women’s Final Six, defeating Puerto Rico 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22) on Thursday night at Unidad Deportiva López Mateos in Guadalajara.
Cuba now stands at 1-3, while Puerto Rico drops to 2-2. In their final matches of the preliminary round, Cuba will face Canada, and Puerto Rico will take on the United States. The top four teams from the round-robin advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
Puerto Rico opened the match strong, pulling away from an 8-8 tie to lead 14-8 behind consecutive kills from Decelise Champion, key blocks on Evilania Martínez, and offensive contributions from Alba Hernández and Paola Santiago. Cuban opposite hitter Yalain De la Peña kept her team close with powerful attacks, but Puerto Rico held firm to take the opening set.
Set two was a rollercoaster battle. Puerto Rico held a three-point edge (13-10) with a block from Hernández on Laura Suárez and a strong push from Paola Vázquez. Cuba evened the score at 15 with solid offense from Dayana Martínez and De la Peña. The turning point came late when Cuba capitalized on Puerto Rican errors and Martínez sealed the set with a huge block over Diana Reyes, evening the match 1-1.
Cuba carried the momentum into set three, racing to a 10-5 lead with strong blocking from Martínez and back-to-back kills from Whitney James and De la Peña. Puerto Rico’s errors mounted, allowing Cuba to pull away and take a commanding 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, Cuba jumped to an 11-6 lead before Puerto Rico fought back to tie at 11 thanks to three straight points from Champion (two kills and a block) and a block from Santiago on Lisania Graforth. The teams traded points down the stretch until Cuba closed out the match, taking advantage of two reception errors by Santiago and an attack error by Paulina Pérez.
Cuba dominated in attacks 58-40, while Puerto Rico led in blocks 13-7. Both teams finished with six aces and similar error counts, Cuba with 25 and Puerto Rico with 22.
Yailin De la Peña led all scorers with 24 points, followed by Dayana Martínez and Whitney James with 12 points apiece, and Claudia Tarín added 11 points. Decelise Champion led Puerto Rico with 14 points, while Alba Hernández contributed 11 points.
Luizomar De Moura, Head Coach of Cuba, said about the victory: “Today was a great win. The girls are gradually understanding the new work philosophy, and this victory is very good to solidify what we are communicating to them every day.”
Wilmarie Rivera, Setter of Puerto Rico, commented on the loss: “I believe we need to be more consistent with our game, manage the highs and lows a little better, and be able to close sets when we are ahead. We must continue adjusting our game plan, be a bit more disciplined, and improve what we need to improve.”
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