ALAJUELA, Costa Rica, July 23, 2025. – The United States earned their second win at the U21 Women’s Pan American Cup by defeating Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-13, 25-7, 25-15) at the start of the second day of competition, held at the Profesor Jorge Luis Solera Gymnasium in the Monserrat Sports Complex in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
USA took a quick lead in the opening set and widened the gap as the set progressed. In the second set, the Americans once again pulled ahead comfortably, reaching an 8-0 scoreline. They maintained control in the third set as well.
The United States dominated the match across all fundamentals: attacks (37-13), blocks (7-2), and service aces (5-0). Except for two players who started the previous match, the team used a different lineup today.
There were 46 unforced errors in the match, 26 by Puerto Rico and 20 by the USA.
Blaire Bayless stood out on offense for the U.S., leading all scorers with 14 points, including one block and one ace. Elizabeth Andrew was the top blocker with 3 blocks and also contributed 8 points, the second-highest scorer for her team.
For Puerto Rico, Valeria Chloe Núñez led with 4 points, all from attacks at the net.
With this result, the United States remains undefeated with 2 wins and 10 points. Puerto Rico, on the other hand, suffers its second loss and is still searching for its first win.
USA will close out the pool-play on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. (local time) against Chile, while Puerto Rico will face Canada at 3:00 p.m. (local time).
USA head coach Heather Olmstead said, “We used a different lineup because we wanted to give everybody an opportunity to play, as they’ve all been working really hard this past week and a half. We’re comfortable with anyone on our roster going out and playing brand USA-volleyball. We know anyone can go in at any time, because we’re going to need everyone throughout the tournament. This was a good opportunity to show how strong we can be as a group, with everyone’s different playing styles.”
“The entire team did a good job supporting each other through the various changes. We stayed focused and did a nice job earning this second victory. We’re still fine-tuning our serve-pass game, but offensively our setters are doing a great job putting our hitters in rhythm, and I think everyone is contributing in different ways. We’re excited to play every match,” Olmstead concluded.
Puerto Rico’s head coach José Ricardo Rivera Guinand commented, “We’re playing good volleyball, but my offense isn’t flowing, right now I’m relying solely on our captain Chareika Carrión. If the rest of the team doesn’t start contributing offensively, the entire game becomes more difficult. We’re getting great match experience and have improved substantially from yesterday. We’ll keep trying to compete, we still have one game left and we can still reach the quarterfinals.”
English 
Spanish