Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States all claimed victory on the opening day of the Men's NORCECA Continental Championship ©NORCECA

Defending champions Cuba opened their defence of the Men's North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) Continental Championship with a tightly contested win against the Dominican Republic as the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico also claimed victory.

They won in four sets after losing a mammoth second set 31-29.

The final two sets went 25-21 and 25-19 in Cuba's favour as they secured a comfortable end to the match.

Jesus Herrera top scored with 18 points, while Miguel Angel López added 17 points and José Israel Masso 14 points.

Earlier, the US won a dramatic opening match against Guatemala in five sets to complete Pool B.

The US team won 24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10.

The United States defeated Guatemala in five sets ©NORCECA
The United States defeated Guatemala in five sets ©NORCECA

After the difficult victory, US captain Joshua Tuaniga said: "Things weren’t going well for us, we weren’t able to put pressure with our serves, missing a lot of them and blocking opportunities as well. 

"Guatemala played really good volleyball all around, I was glad to be able to play this kind of volleyball at the beginning of the tournament, kudos for Guatemala and shout out to the guys for really staying in and pushing through."

In Pool A, Pelegrin Vargas and Gabriel García led Puerto Rico with 11 points each as they overcame Canada 3-0 in sets. 

Xander Ketrzynski was Canada’s top scorer with 12 points, while Brandon Koppers added 11.

Mexico defeated Trinidad and Tobago, as Mexican Josué de Jesús led the way with 18 points.