NORCECA U19 Boys' Continental Championship: USA & Cuba Clinch Spot in 2019 Worlds

2018 NORCECA U19 BOYS’ CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP

June 6-10, 2018
San Jose, Costa Rica | Gimnasio Nacional
NORCECA Homepage
2018 NORCECA U19 Boys’ Continental Championship Preview

The 2018 NORCECA U19 Boys’ Continental Championship began in Costa Rica featuring a seven-team field. Cuba will be looking to defend their crown while the United States is trying to win the tournament off of American soil for the first time. In total, two tickets to the age-group related 2019 FIVB World Championship will be punched in the event – which now have been clinched by USA and Cuba.

All matches can be viewed on NORCECATV at https://www.internetv.tv/ for $8.00 USD. More information, featuring analysis, results, standings and schedule can be seen below.

FORMAT:

What’s on the line?
- The top two teams will earn a bid to the 2019 FIVB U19 Boys’ World Championship
The seven teams are distributed into two pools – one featuring 3 teams with the other holding 4
The top three ranked teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals on June 9
- 2nd in Pool A vs. 3rd in Pool B; 3rd in Pool A vs. 2nd in Pool B
  - Winners advance to the semifinals against the pool victors
- That will be followed by a First and Third-Place match

STANDINGS:

RK	CODE	COUNTRY	POINTS	MATCHES			RESULTS DETAILS						POINTS			SETS
RK	CODE	COUNTRY	POINTS	T	Won	Lost	3-0	3-1	3-2	2-3	1-3	0-3	Won	Lost	Ratio	Won	Lost	Ratio
1	PUR	PUERTO RICO	10	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	150	84	1.786	6	0	MAX
2	CRC	COSTA RICA	4	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	141	160	0.881	3	4	0.75
3	NCA	NICARAGUA	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	128	175	0.731	1	6	0.167

1	CUB	CUBA	15	3	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	228	136	1.676	9	0	MAX
2	USA	UNITED STATES	10	3	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	214	178	1.202	6	3	2
3	GUA	GUATEMALA	4	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	196	225	0.871	3	7	0.429
4	HON	HONDURAS	1	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	149	248	0.601	1	9	0.111

Note: Order of teams determined in this order: W-L, points, point ratio, set ratio, head-to-head. Points for W-L’s will be as follows:

3-0 win = 5 points
3-1 win = 4 points
3-2 win = 3 points
2-3 loss = 2 points
1-3 loss = 1 point
0-3 loss = 0 points
Forfeit = 0 points (and 0-75 in points for match)

RESULTS:

SEMIFINALS:

USA DEF. PUERTO RICO 3-0

USA def. Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20)
USA improves to 4-1; Puerto Rico falls to 2-1

In the first semifinal, the United States Boys’ Youth National Team took down Puerto Rico to clinch a bid to the 2019 FIVB U19 Boys’ World Championship. Things got progressively tighter in each set, but overall the American side was the stronger team. It also pushes them into the championship match where they can win a trophy by getting revenge on their lone loss to Cuba.

The block heavily favored Team USA at 7-0, which also helped to fuel a 46-24 edge in attacks. United States had 12 more unforced errors, but it mainly came as a result of being more aggressive to earn that big discrepancy in attacks. Individually, opposite Scott Solan posted 18 points and had plenty of help from Akhil Tangutur (13 points) and Alex Knight (13 points). Sebastian Negron of Puerto Rico (11 points) tried to keep pace, but didn’t have as much firepower around him.

Team USA head coach Brad Keller: “Tonight we started off faster, we were more disciplined and we slowed the game down to our pace. I am proud of these guys, they have done every single thing that we’ve asked them, I am really happy for them. I have a lot of respect for coach Juan Albarran and Puerto Rico, he does the best job coaching his boys and he’s a winner. We’re excited for facing Cuba again, we’re just going to celebrate this one and then dial in for that.”

Puerto Rican head coach Juan Albarran: “United States came with a well-structured game plan, their serves really damaged us in the first two sets, our performance was lower than our previous matches. Most definitely our blocking was absent and blocking boosts the excitement and game level; we were flat.”

CUBA DEF. GUATEMALA 3-0

Cuba def. Guatemala 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-15)
Cuba improves to 4-0; Guatemala falls to 2-3

Not only did Cuba set up a rematch with the United States from an earlier sweep they gave the Americans in pool play, but most importantly their win over Guatemala locked down a spot in the 2019 FIVB U19 Boys’ World Championship.

The quick victory was led by Jose Gutierrez (13 points), Luis Vidal Allen (11 points) and Alexei Ramirez (11 points). Together they pushed the team to a a gigantic edge in attacks (42-16), blocks (10-0) and aces (9-1).

Cuban head coach Mario Izquierdo: “This is Cuba’s new volleyball generations, they are disciplined, tactic and with good physical strength; these are boys from several provinces in Cuba and I really satisfied with their effort to qualify to the world championship. This team is well prepared many people to thank and that are involved in this project of young Cuban talents. We will face the title match with the same energy.”

Full Schedule:

NO.

DATE

TIME

TEAMS

SCORES

SET

POINTS

TIME

FORMS

6-June

19:00

PUERTO RICO

NICARAGUA