SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, August 26, 2026 – Costa Rica defeated Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 (25-14, 25-7, 25-13) to secure seventh place at the 2026 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship, held from August 21-26 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Costa Rica finished the tournament with a 1-4 record, while Trinidad and Tobago finished without a win.
The Costa Ricans dominated in attacks (44-12) and aces (4-3), while both teams were tied with 3 blocks. Costa Rica committed 16 errors compared to Trinidad and Tobago’s 24.
The opening set was evenly contested early, with the teams tied at 7-7 before Costa Rica began to pull away. María Del Sol Venegas helped the Costa Ricans build an 11-8 advantage and they continued to extend the margin, reaching 20-10 before closing the set 25-14.
Costa Rica took complete control in the second set. After an early 3-3 score, the Costa Ricans went on a 16-0 run behind the serve of María Sofía Arroyo to build a commanding 19-3 lead. Trinidad and Tobago managed only four more points as Costa Rica took the set 25-7.
The third set was tied at 4-4 before Costa Rica moved ahead 9-4. Trinidad and Tobago stayed within reach at 13-6, but Costa Rica continued to control the pace, extending its lead to 19-10 before sealing the straight-set victory 25-13.
Opposite hitter María Sofía Arroyo led the Costa Rican offense with 14 points (12 attacks and 2 aces), followed by outside hitter María Del Sol Venegas with 11 points (10 attacks and 1 ace).
For Trinidad and Tobago, Sadie Torkar scored 7 points, all on attacks.
Ciro Zoratti, Costa Rica’s coach: “Regarding the game, I came here to win, and I have a lot of respect for Trinidad and Tobago because we know the challenges they faced to get here. As for the tournament, it was very important for us because four of our players were making their senior team debuts, and this is valuable information that I’m taking with me for our development process in Costa Rica.”
Gideon Dickson, Trinidad and Tobago’s coach: “Our team has the least experience in the competition, and while the Costa Rican players are also young, they have much more experience than we do. So, we see this competition as a way for our players to gradually improve for the future.”
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