2018 NORCECA WOMEN’S CHALLENGE CUP – POOLS A & B
- May 17th-20th, 2018
- Edmonton Expo Hall, Edmonton, Canada
- World Rankings: #13 Puerto Rico, #19 Canada, #25 Cuba, #34 Trinidad & Tobago, #42 Nicaragua
- Preview, Rules, Schedule, How it All Works & More
- NORCECA Homepage
- Live Scoring & Results
After two matches kicked off the action yesterday and the huge news of the day occurred with Costa Rica withdrawing, day two saw just one match of play. The result was Cuba sweeping Nicaragua, pushing them to 0-2 without a set victory while Cuba got off on the right foot.
The result also sets the final pool day up to be a de facto semifinal – although Trinidad & Tobago has to do dominate and not just beat Canada to win the tiebreaker – with the final pool matches potentially determining the nations who will play for the NORCECA Women’s Challenge Cup.
STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2:
| Pool A | W-L | Points | Set W-L | PF-PA |
| Canada | 1-0 | 5 | 3-0 | 75-50 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 0-1 | 0 | 0-3 | 50-75 |
| Pool B | W-L | Points | Set W-L | PF-PA |
| Puerto Rico | 1-0 | 5 | 3-0 | 75-41 |
| Cuba | 1-0 | 5 | 3-0 | 75-32 |
| Nicaragua | 0-2 | 0 | 0-6 | 73-150 |
Note:
- 5 points = 3-0 win
- 4 points = 3-1 win
- 3 points = 3-2 win
- 2 points = 2-3 loss
- 1 point = 1-3 loss
- 0 points = 0-3 loss/forfeit
RESULTS:
POOL B
CUBA DEF. NICARAGUA, 3-0
- Cuba def. Nicaragua 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-10)
- Cuba improves to 1-0 (5 points); Nicaragua falls to 0-2 (0 points)
Cuba earned an incredibly dominant victory over Nicaragua to get their tournament started. Amazingly, Sulian Matienzo Linares totaled more points (13) than Nicaragua did in any one set. The serve was also prevalent, with 14 aces coming out of the hand of the Cuban side.
For Nicaragua, they were already facing an uphill battle after a sweep loss to Puerto Rico and would have needed to win a set of tiebreakers. This loss officially eliminates them. In Cuba‘s case, they now have a winner-take-all for Pool B with Puerto Rico on the final day of pool play, as the victor will head to the championship match.
Cuban head coach Wilfredo Robinson Pupo: “I expected the team to play just as they did. We plan to play better tomorrow, but I think we did good today. This tournament is really good experience for the Central American games in July. This as well as the match tomorrow against Puerto Rico will help us prepare for that. The game was good because we played against Nicaragua but tomorrow our level will have to be better and not be too confident against Puerto Rico.
Nicaraguan captain Claudia Noguera: “It was the first time we classified for these Norceca games. Playing a team like Cuba is good to show us the level of play. We have a lot to improve on if we want to keep coming to these games. The Canadian people and hosts are very friendly and thankful. It’s a very good experience to come here and play good teams. It really pushes us to get better and keep coming to the games.”
MAY 19 SCHEDULE:
Pool A: Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago – 7 p.m. Mountain Time
Pool B: Cuba vs. Puerto Rico – 4 p.m. Mountain Time
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