Lian Sem Estrada’s side needed to push themselves to the limit to beat Guatemala.

The Cuban national team opened with a tight five-set win over Guatemala in the Norceca U21 Men’s Continental Volleyball Championship 2024, which is being held in the Mexican city of Nogales.

Partial scores of 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25 and 15-13 showed how hard-fought the duel was, with the Cubans leading in attack (60-51). That was enough to erase the disadvantages in blocking (10-11), serving (3-5) and the highest number of unforced errors (36-31).

The team coached by Lian Sem Estrada counted on the offensive inspiration of opposite Daniel Martinez, top scorer of the match with 27 points, distributed in 22 attacks, four blocks and one ace.

On the other side, opposite Luis Roberto Mendizabal also scored 23 points, and only failed to score from the service line.

The next presentation of the Cuban team will take place on Wednesday, when they face Puerto Rico. The closing of the preliminary phase will be on Thursday with Canada as opponent.

In the other key of the tournament, which distributes quotas for the next world championship of the category, are the teams from the United States, Nicaragua, Suriname and the host.

According to the competition system, the winners of each bracket will advance via the fast track to the semi-finals on Saturday. Those finishing in places two and three will contest the quarter-final stage a day earlier.

The medal matches, as well as those that will define the rest of the positions, are reserved for Sunday.