Cuba loses second friendly match against US volleyball team

The Cuban men's volleyball team lost to the United States in the second and last friendly match between the two countries, with a stage at Havana's Sports City Coliseum.

Americans won 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-17 and 25-18) despite making many unforced errors at the beginning of the game.

The top scorer of the match was American Garret Maututia, with 17 points, supported by Paul Lotman (15), David Smith (14) and Matt Anderson (13), while Cuba's highlights were Osniel Mergarejo (12) and Luis Sosa (9).

Rolando Cepeda was far from his status as captain and main figure of his squad, as well as the other two key players, Javier Jimenez and Osmani Uriarte, who recently joined the team after playing in foreign leagues.

Rodolfo Sanchez's disciples are training for the World League and the Olympics next August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian city that will also be attended by the pupils of John Speraw.

United States won the ticket to Rio de Janeiro at Japan 2015 World Cup, where it ranked first, while Cubans got their berth by winning the gold medal in the continental Olympic qualifying tournament this year in Edmonton, Canada.