Cuba vs Ukraine (VNL)

Havana, Jun 14 (JIT) - Cuba lost today in a close duel against Ukraine in a match extended to a tie break during the third date of Pool 2 of the Volleyball Nations League, played at the Macarazinho stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

The definition left partials of 25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 17-25, and 15-12, with the Europeans superior in attack by only one point (51-50) and with a bigger difference in blocking (17-11). Our team led in service (8-5) and committed fewer unforced errors (29-35).

However, the Ukrainians had four men in double digits, who were only surpassed by Caribbean corner player Marlon Yant, who maintained his performance and drive, and for the second day was the top scorer of the match with 23 points (19 attacks-1 block-3 aces).

He was followed by center Javier Concepción, with just 11 points (6-4-1), and José Massó scored nine (7-1-1) as a substitute for opposite opener Yondar Bisset. Auxiliary Miguel Angel Lopez, far below his performance of yesterday, could not get past seven attacks before being relieved by Osniel Mergarejo (4/3-0-1).

Also on the court were passer Julio Gómez, who scored the same as starter Christian Thondike (2/0-1-1), and sweeper Brayan Camino, while Yonder García recovered from another bad fall on the stands while defending a ball.

The opposing team's offense was well distributed, led by Tupchii (18/15-3-0), Yanchuk (17/13-1-3), Kovalov (17/12-4-1), and Semeniuk (12/6-5-1), one of the elements that made the difference for the pupils of Argentinean Raul Lozano.

It was the second setback for Jesús Cruz's pupils, who lost 1-3 in their debut against Slovenia (25-22, 21-25, 25-18, and 25-15), an outcome to which they responded with a sensational victory against Brazil in five sets (27-25, 26-24, 21-25, 20-25, and 15-13).

Their next opponent will be the U.S. team on Sunday at 4:00 p.m., as they will enjoy their rest day this Saturday.