The young Cubans enjoy their third consecutive win here in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to battle for the fifth rank on Sunday
Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 16, 2017 – Cuba eased past China 4-1 (16-14, 6-15, 15-10, 15-10, 18-16) in the play off 5 to 8 positions in the 2017 FIVB Women’s U23 World Championship here at Hall Tivoli in Ljubljana on Saturday afternoon.
All matches in Ljubljana are played under a
new scoring system currently being tested: a best-of-seven, 15-point set format.
Cuba will battle it out against the winner of Thailand versus Brazil for the fifth position, while China play for the seventh position.
It will be Cuba’s best result at U23 world championships after finishing 9th in 2013 and 11th in 2015. China, on the other hand, cannot not confirm their first (2013) and fifth place (2015) from the two previous competitions.
As usual, Heidy Casanova Alvarez came out as top match scorer with 17 points followed by captain Diaris De La Caridad Perez Ramos with 15. China's Jin Ye contributed 11 points as the best for the losers.
Captain Diaris De La Caridad Perez Ramos led Cuba with strong offensive and defensive skillsThe Chinese team played their best in the second set as they deployed their solid offense against the struggling Cuban defense. However, it was far away from good enough. The powerful Cubans lived up to their exploit versus Brazil on Friday night, giving the Asian side an extremely hard time.
Cuba saved two set balls in the end of the fifth period before closing it out at 18-16.
Quick links - Volleyball:FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017
FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - ScheduleFIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - Teams
FIVB.com - VolleyballFIVB.com
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