Cuba wins bronze in FIVB World League – Volleyball news
The bronze medal match of the FIVB World League took place on Sunday, July 8, 2012 between Bulgaria and Cuba. The match took place in Sofia, Bulgaria at the Arena Armeec which was filled with 10 thousand home team fans. The contest between the two sides
took on thrilling tones as it went on to five sets and ended in a win for the Cubans.
The score board showed the following final set scores: 25-18, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23 and 15-12.
The coach of the Cuban squad, Orlando Samuels Blackwood, shared his delight at winning the bronze medal of the tournament in the following words, “We are very satisfied with what we have achieved. It was a hard tournament for us as we have five very young
players in the team…I want to also thank the whole team for not giving up.”
On the other hand, the home team coach Nayden Naydenov expressed his disappointment at the loss of the match by giving the following statements, “I am sorry that we lost. Nevertheless, I want to congratulate the team because they fought until the very end.
I want to express my special gratitude to those Bulgarian fans that supported the team until the last point and did not lose faith in us.”
The opening set of the match started off with a Bulgarian lead at 5-1 which they were able to stretch till the first technical time out at 8-4. However, Cuba did not give up the chase and made the score reach a tie at 12-12. Cuba managed to inch forward
with the lead that extended to an advantage of 16-13 at the second technical time out. After that point, the home team could not swing things in their favour as Cuba went on to win the first frame by a comfortable margin at 25-18.
The loss of the first set did not sit well with the home team and they were able to lead at 8-4 and stretch their advantage further but Cuba was able to tie the frame. The Bulgarians did not let Cubans dominate their play and got the lead again in order
to move on and finish the second set at 25-19.
The third set was tied at the start with both the Cubans and the Bulgarians giving in their best but the second technical time out gave the lead to Cuba at 16-15. However, the Bulgarians were able to push ahead and secure another win at 25-23.
The Cubans were able to step up their game in the fourth set and give tough competition to their rivals to eventually bag the frame at 25-23. The fifth set saw both the teams compete equally well but it was the Cuban squad that was able to seal the deal
at 15-12 to win the bronze medal of the tournament.
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