Lisset Isabel Ricardo

The Cuban team defeated hosts Turkey (3-2) in the city of Bursa, finishing on top of group three of the 25th World Volleyball League.

Cuban team celebrate win against hosts Turkey.

The Cubans prevailed in two five-set matches over China in the semi-finals and Turkey in the finals - with a score of: 24-26, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21 and 16-14, at the Cengiz Gollu Volleyball Arena.

The young team led by Rodolfo Sánchez, took 21st place and unofficially secured a spot in level two of the World League 2015 competition, the Turkish team took second place, followed by China in third, which beat Slovakia 3-1, placing 23rd in the general standings.

The game which lasted 2 hours, 12 minutes and comes as Cuba’s second win in the tournament was close and thrilling. Captain Rolando Cepeda led the match scorers in the Sunday final with 28 points, the second best scoring performance in group 3 finals according to the tournament website.

Cepeda was followed by Osmany Uriarte (22), Javier Jiménez (15) and middle blocker Isbel Mesa (10). Leandro Macías’ passing was key and the team’s focus on receiving and defense in the 4th set were vital - elements lacking in the previous sets.

Top scorer on the Turkish team was Metin Toy (17) with Turgay Dogan (16), Aydin Yasin (12) and Emre Batur (10) also reaching double figures.

Both teams were evenly matched in their attack (62-61) and defense (13 each), as well as errors (26-25), but Cuba’s serving was superior (10-5) and reacted better in the eight point tie-break.

Cepeda scored decisive points, supported by Uriarte, under pressure from the Turkish crowd, after overcoming their initial poor performance with the home team scoring four consecutive points.