After starring in the sbiggest prize of the tournamentthe men’s team Cuban volleyball was on the verge of the next universal event for those under 17 years of age, by losing to its counterpart from Puerto Rico in the final of the Continental Championship of NORCECAwhich this Sunday concluded in Nicaragua.
The island’s cast was very close to performing another feat, but this time the chances of a comeback evaporated in four sets with partials of 25-23, 25-22, 18-25 and 25-22, which sentenced the coronation of the Puerto Ricans, according to a note from the sports portal Jit.
2025 NORCECA Boys’ U17 Continental Championship
PUERTO RICO
CUBA
UNITED STATES#norceca #volleyball #norcecau17 pic.twitter.com/vNIjnbkqN7— NorcecaInfo (@Norceca_Info) November 24, 2025
Beyond the spectacular success over the United States that catapulted them to the final, the performance of the Cubans was discreet throughout the entire tournament, which they achieved with three successes in six appearances.
In the last one, their executioners were superior in attack (49-43) and blocking (8-5), while they faltered from the service line (2-10) and equaled the number of unforced errors (34).
On an individual level, the Puerto Ricans counted on the outstanding performance of Elvis González, author of 30 points, and from the other side of the net, the leading voice in offensive songs was led by Víctor Contreras with 19.
Contreras’ performance was notable throughout the entire contest, which is why he ended up as one of the two Cubans included in the ideal lineup announced on the final day.
The Cuban was selected as the second best scorer of the tournament, while his teammate Reinaldo Márquez emerged as the most outstanding with the serve.
2025 NORCECA Boys’ U17 Continental Championship INDIVIDUAL AWARDEES
MVP Adrian Figueroa pic.twitter.com/dz18Y3QYDs
— NorcecaInfo (@Norceca_Info) November 24, 2025
With its coronation, Puerto Rico took the only ticket at stake and the Cuban squad is waiting for the conclusion of the qualifying tournaments of the rest of the confederations, and the definition of the international federation on the distribution of places for the World Cup of the category, next year in Qatar.
The bronze medal went to the United States team, winner in five sets (25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 21-25, 18-16) over Mexico.
Costa Rica finished in fifth place and Nicaragua in seventh by beating Barbados and the Dominican Republic 3-2, respectively.
