MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 4, 2026.- Mexico defeated Costa Rica with a convincing 3-0 (25-6, 25-15, 25-15) to keep its hopes alive of advancing to the championship match of the NORCECA U23 Women’s Pan American Cup.
With a 3-1 record and one preliminary-round match remaining on Saturday against the United States, Mexico remains in contention for one of the two spots in the final. The outcome will depend on the results of the final day, when the Dominican Republic will also look to close with a victory against Nicaragua.
Mexico set the tone from the start with a commanding 25-6 first-set win, fueled by pressure from the service line and its offensive superiority. Costa Rica put up more resistance in the next two sets, but Mexico remained in control and won both by identical 25-15 scores.
In the third set, Costa Rica stayed even with Mexico through 6-6 before the Mexicans began to pull away. Mexico moved ahead 11-6 and later extended its advantage to 17-10 on the way to closing out the match.
Mexico’s serving put Costa Rica’s reception under pressure with 11 aces, seven of them by Arleth Marquez, who finished with 13 points. Aime Topete once again led Mexico’s offense with 23 points, including 18 kills and four blocks. Melina Abarca led Costa Rica with eight points.
Mexico dominated in attacks 39-15, aces 11-2 and blocks 8-5. The Mexicans committed 14 unforced errors compared to 17 by Costa Rica.
On the final day of the round-robin preliminary round, Costa Rica will face Canada on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., while Mexico will close against the United States at 5:00 p.m.
Luis León López, head coach of Mexico: “The competition is not over yet in the pool stage, and we still have one match left as we fight for a medal. Tomorrow will determine whether we can compete for the gold medal or the bronze medal. We would love for it to be gold, but it depends on the result against the United States. We had less rotation than in other matches, although we were able to get all the players on the court for a little bit so they can stay in rhythm and, above all, have good confidence for tomorrow’s match.”
Ashly Morales, setter of Mexico: “We’re going to take this victory in the best way possible, to learn and improve because tomorrow is an important match, one that will decide a lot in terms of reaching the final or playing for third and fourth place. We have to maintain the same rhythm and intensity, not let up, and trust that we have a good team. We’ve been working together through previous age-group processes. We’re a united team, we know each other, and even though we are different ages, we know how to work together. This group is really close, and I like that a lot.”
Braulio Godínez, head coach of Costa Rica: “With the result between Canada and the Dominican Republic, Mexico has a chance to reach the final if they beat the United States tomorrow, but for that they needed a strong win, so I think they came out with a lot of intensity. We had a very difficult time getting into the match, especially with their middle attacking in position five; she scored a lot of points against us, and we also had a lot of problems in reception. After that, we were able to play a little better, although there is a significant difference between their level and ours.”
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