Tampere, Finland, July 2, 2016 - Olli-Pekka Ojansivu scored match high 18 points paving the way for Finland's victory over Cuba 3-1 (25-19, 25-12, 18-25, 25-21) in World League 2016 Group 2 Pool I tournament. Cuba’s number one scorer was captain Rolando Cepeda with 16 points.
Finland still have a chance to qualify for the Final Four in Portugal, but they must win against Canada on Sunday.
Cuba jumped out to a 8-4 lead in the first set serving extremely well. Finland did not give up and tied the score at 16-16. Cuba made several errors in service and attacks helping Finland to put the set away 25-19. Finland hit six service aces which was the key factor for the win.
Finland started set two very convincingly and stormed to a 13-5 lead. Cuba could not recover. Finland’s performance was outstanding and soon the gap between the sides was ten points at 18-8. Cuban net error sealed the 25-12 win for Finland.
Cuba came back in set three taking a 8-5 lead. Finland tied the set at 14-14. Cuba pushed on and performed extremely well giving Finland no chance to win. Cuba wrapped up the set 25-18.
Set four was a tough fight. It was still even at 16-16. Strong serves and excellent spikes by Ojansivu earned important points for Finland. Jan Helenius spiked to end the at 25-21. Helenius scored 13 points in the match.