LEÓN, Mexico, September 17, 2026.- Defending champion Dominican Republic rallied after losing the opening set and held off a Mexican comeback to win 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 15-12) in the semifinals of the 2026 Women’s Pan American Cup on Thursday at the Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato.
The Dominicans will face the United States on Friday at 8:00 p.m., seeking their seventh gold medal. Dominican Republic has won six gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals in tournament history.
Mexico, which forced a fifth set after trailing 2-1, will meet Puerto Rico in the bronze medal match on Friday at 6:00 p.m. The teams will face each other in the bronze medal match for the second consecutive edition, with the hosts seeking their first medal in the tournament.
Mexico started strong and took the opening set 25-19. Dominican Republic responded with an offense led by Flormarie Heredia and Geraldine González’s blocking to win the next two sets 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead.
The Mexicans extended the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. Sofía Maldonado and Aimé Topete led the home team’s offense, while Uxue Guereca scored the point that put Mexico ahead 24-19 before Topete closed out the set with a kill.
In the deciding set, Dominican Republic took a 4-1 lead and later went ahead 9-6. Mexico fought back to tie the score at 11-11, but the Dominicans regained control. González blocked Topete for a 13-11 lead, and Massiel Matos scored the match-winning point to seal the 15-12 victory.
Dominican Republic held a 60-57 advantage in attack points and a 15-11 edge in blocks. Mexico led 6-2 in aces and committed fewer unforced errors, 27 compared with 30.
Heredia led Dominican Republic with 22 points on 20 kills, one block and one ace. González added 15 points, including a match-high eight blocks. Matos also scored 15 points, while Florangel Terrero contributed 14.
Maldonado led all scorers with 24 points for Mexico, including 21 kills, two blocks and one ace. Topete added 17 points, and Guereca finished with 11.
Dominican Republic head coach Marcos Kwiek praised his players’ response in the crucial moments.
“The girls did a great job. This is a young group, and they make mistakes that are normal for their age and lack of experience, but they knew how to respond at key moments. We also made mistakes at important times, but they bounced back. This is a team that keeps growing. It’s better to make mistakes and win than to make mistakes and lose. Today we’ll celebrate; tomorrow we’ll think about the United States.”