Cuba-Japan
Cuba had already booked their place in the Finals, but the loss means that Japan will now have to contest a World League playoff to ensure their place in next year’s tournament.
Cuba used their options in this match, but despite the disruption, Japan couldn’t get a foothold at the start of the match, with Cuba taking a quick lead. The NORCECA side continued to score on their block and committed only one error throughout the opener, taking the win.
The Cuban domination continued into the second set with the six-point advantage at the first tto growing to 10 by the end as they stormed into a 2-0 lead.
Cuba gave Japan a chance in the third as coach Orlando Samuels changed half of his players. The new players Bisset, Fiel and Estrada didn’t have time to adapt and Cuba struggled to score points, whereas Japan used this unexpected opportunity to take as much as they could, taking the set.
But Cepeda and Diaz returned to the line-up in the fourth and Cuba immediately picked up where they left off in the second. The match progressed pretty much as it had in the first set, so at the first tto the scoreboard showed 8-6 to Cuba. This continued throughout as they sealed an easy win, condemning Japan.
The best scorer for Cuba was Yenry Bell with 22 points, while Shimizu scored 21 for Japan.
