Guadalajara, August 17, 2023.- Mexico recovers after losing first set and to defeat Cuba 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21) in closing match of pool C at the XVI Men’s Pan American Cup in Volleyball.
The Mexicans, supported by a large group of fans at Arena Astros in Guadalajara, fell in the first set against a Cuban team thirsty for victory; In the second set, Mexico recovered from a 13-19 deficit to tie the set at 21 and win the dramatic set 25-23.
In the third and fourth sets, the locals managed to maintain the advantage and win the match and leadership of group C, while Cuba ended without wins with 0-3 record.
For Mexico, Diego Gonzalez was the top scorer with 16 points, Josué Lopez with 15 and Yasutaka Sanay with 11. Alejandro Gonzalez was the top scorer from Cuba with 27 points.
Mexico was superior in attacks 50-46, blocks 13-7 and direct points from serves 5-2; per committed more unforced errors than his opponent (33-28).
Azair Lopez, coach of Mexico: “Today Cuba came out to play their best game, they began with very aggressively serves, blocking and playing their complex 1 (K1) almost perfectly; we had not seen yet this level that Cuba showed today. It’s great that we saw this show because the guys were able to overcome that; we made the adjustments and luckily it worked out.
Diego González, Mexico’s best scorer: “We went in very anxious, wanting to give it all but we did not get the results at the beginning. We got desperate, they were pushing with their serves making it difficult for us to receive, but I think we were able to pull it off. Playing at home is something incredible, it’s one of the best emotions that can exist in sport and the support has been fantastic, I’m from Guadalajara and I’m very happy to play here”.
Mario Izquierdo, coach of Cuba: “As the competition has progressed, the boys have improved their performance so much so that the level of play has gone up, a sign that what these boys need is to play a little more. Today in the game the disposition was much better, that was a key factor, but Mexico knew how to take the game where they wanted”.
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