LEÓN, Mexico, September 16, 2026.- Costa Rica defeated Nicaragua 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15) in the classification round for positions 7-10 at the 2026 Women’s Pan American Cup on Wednesday at the Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato.
With the win, Costa Rica advanced to the seventh-place match, scheduled for Thursday at 4:00 p.m., where it will face the winner of the match between Guatemala and Venezuela. Nicaragua, meanwhile, will play the loser of that match for ninth place at 2:00 p.m.
The first set was the most competitive of the match. Nicaragua managed to stay close on the scoreboard, but Costa Rica built a 23-18 lead. Although the Nicaraguans narrowed the gap, Costa Rica closed out the set 25-21.
In the second set, Costa Rica established a 13-8 advantage and maintained control to take it 25-15. In the third, the Costa Ricans jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and extended their advantage to secure the victory with another 25-15 result.
Costa Rica finished with a 36-31 advantage in attacks, 5-1 in blocks and 5-1 in aces. Costa Rica also committed fewer unforced errors, 18 compared to Nicaragua’s 29.
Krystel Vargas led Costa Rica with a match-high 18 points, while Joselyn Moraga contributed 10. Brittany Forbes was Nicaragua’s leading scorer with 10 points.
Ciro Zoratti, Costa Rica’s head coach: “First of all, we prepared very well for this match. We spent a lot of time analyzing videos because we knew we could play a great match. I also asked all the players to play with Costa Rican pride because we let the match against Guatemala slip away. We told the players that we needed to focus on our goal, which was to reach the seventh-place match, and we achieved that first goal. Now our second goal is to finish the tournament in seventh place, and we are ready to face Venezuela or Guatemala. I am very grateful to the players because they managed to change their mindset after four losses.”
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