TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, November 14, 2026. – Costa Rica lived up to expectations and advanced to the final of the 21st AFECAVOL Central American U21 Women’s Championship with a straight-set 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-13) victory over Guatemala in the tournament’s second semifinal.
Costa Rica will compete in the final of this championship for the first time since the 2017 edition and will battle for the title on Sunday against Nicaragua, which defeated El Salvador 3-1 in the first semifinal.
Costa Rica held the advantage in every scoring category, leading in attacks 35-29, blocks 8-2 and service aces 8-2. The Costa Ricans also capitalized on 24 errors by Guatemala while conceding just 13 points through their own mistakes.
Costa Rica imposed its rhythm from the start and limited Guatemala’s opportunities to respond with an effective tactical approach built around attacks through the middle of the net and shots directed deep into the court.
In the second set, Guatemala attempted to slow Costa Rica’s momentum behind an outstanding performance by Natalia Pérez, who scored 11 points in that set. However, the lack of offensive support from her teammates prevented Guatemala from sustaining the pressure.
Costa Rica quickly regained control and established a commanding lead early in the third set, leaving Guatemala with few opportunities to change the course of the match.
Luciana Vargas led Costa Rica’s offense with 12 points, all from attacks, while Amanda Campos and Charlotte Martínez contributed nine points each. For Guatemala, Natalia Pérez was the match’s leading scorer with 16 points, followed by Andrea Garcés with eight.
Sunday’s final day of competition, November 15, will begin at 1:00 p.m. with Belize facing Panama for sixth place. At 3:30 p.m., El Salvador and Guatemala will compete for the bronze medal, while Costa Rica and Nicaragua will battle for the Central American title at 6:00 p.m.
Braulio Godínez, head coach of Costa Rica: “From the outside, the match may have looked easy, but on the court, it was a real challenge. Today, we worked on a tactical plan focused on attacking through the middle of the net, where we felt Guatemala had some weaknesses. They have very strong outside hitters and play well on the wings, but our strategy worked this time.
There are moments in a match when we manage to make the difference, sometimes right from the start, as in the third set, and other times midway through, as happened in the second.
The good thing about this group is that everyone understands the system. Although they haven’t been working with me for very long, they had already been playing together under other coaches. We’ve maintained some of the concepts they were familiar with and introduced others to improve. They are very talented players, which makes adapting to new ideas much easier. But it’s not easy; it may look that way from the outside, but on the inside, you’re sweating.”
Luciana Vargas, Costa Rica’s leading scorer: “We are very excited because this was the first step. The championship started several days ago, but today was when the most exciting part began, what we had been waiting for. We are proud to have achieved this first goal because it brings us one step closer, and tomorrow we will give everything we have in the final.”