Star player Cepeda to lead Cuba back to the world elite

Lausanne, Switzerland, May 19, 2016 – FIVB Volleyball World League Group 2 is set to be as competitive as ever with promotion to Group 1 on the line once again.

The group contains many teams with a history of great success in world volleyball, with two former FIVB World League champions in the Netherlands (1996) and Cuba (1998). In fact, the team from the Caribbean even finished third in 2012 to claim a ninth medal. Only the elite trio of Brazil, Italy and Russia have more medals in the history of the competition. Now the young Cuban team is making gradual progress back towards the world’s elite. 

This year, the 21-strong squad for the FIVB World League will be led once again by the experienced Rolando Cepeda Abreu. The opposite spiker was the fourth-highest scorer in Intercontinental Group 2 with 192 points – considerably better than France’s Earvin Ngapeth (151), who was later voted MVP after the “Equipe Tricolore” triumphed in the FIVB World League for the first time.

The squad selected to represent the Netherlands, Olympic champions at Atlanta 1996, includes many new faces alongside such experienced players as Kay van Dijk and captain Jasper Diefenbach. 

Other nations with a proud volleyball history are Asian giants Japan, South Korea and China. All three are making their way slowly back up the rankings. The Japanese team, 1972 Olympic champions, seem to have the best …

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