Cuba – Nicaragua
The top two ranked teams, besides hosts Mexico, at the conclusion of eight-team competition will be granted tickets to next year’s FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship to be held in Tijuana and Mexicali.
Cuba defeated Nicaragua (1-1) in straight sets (25-14, 25-11, 25-8) to earn its second victory of Pool A. Santiago Uriarte topped Cuba with 13 tallies (with 6 aces), while Inover Romero converted 11. On the Nicaraguan side, Christopher Lee Lazo concluded with 6.
“This is our first international competition and can I feel we are reaching the level we want one step at a time”, Cuba’s captain Ricardo Calvo said.
Costa Rica evened its win-loss record at 1-1 in Pool A after brushing aside winless French Saint Martin 3-0 (25-9, 25-16, 25-16). Luis Diego Abarga became the top scorer of this match with 13 points, while Jafet García and Cesar Gomez each finished with 8. Kareem Brooks registered 8 for the defeated side.
“We faced a team with very talented young players with a lot of potential”, Costa Rica’s Captain Andres Araya said.
The United States clinched its second victory in Pool B by defeating winless U.S. Virgin Islands 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-10). David Parker scored 12 points for USA, while Aseah Thomas finished with 7 for the US Virgin Islands team.
“I want to congratulate the US Virgin Islands for a great match, and it was also a great team effort from us”, American captain Christian Blough said.
Mexico also remained undefeated in Pool B following the 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-17) victory over Puerto Rico (0-2). Alexis Garay converted 13 points for México and Mauricio López contributed 9. Puerto Rico’s Juan Ruiz Goyco finished with 9 points.
“This was a very important match, we prepared well in the morning to play against a very tough team, a high level one, very tall”, Mexico’s captain Mauricio López said.
