LEÓN, Guanajuato, July 31, 2025. – Nicaragua earned an exciting victory in the Central American clash by defeating Costa Rica 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 15-13) at the Women’s U23 Pan American Cup being held at the Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato.
On the final day of competition, Nicaragua will play for fifth place against the Dominican Republic, while Costa Rica will face Suriname for positions seven and eight.
Costa Rica refused to give up and showed great character to push the match to a fifth set. With a more effective attack and well-organized defense, the Costa Ricans seized every opportunity to recover and stay in the fight, rallying to force a deciding set after trailing by two.
Nicaragua displayed composure in the tiebreak, coming back from a five-point deficit (3-8) to tie at 10 and surge to victory. Their solid blocking was key in neutralizing Costa Rica’s main attacker, Ivanny Blackwood, while Marcela Martínez led the Nicaraguan offense.
María Roa, captain of Nicaragua, highlighted the team’s effort: “It was a hard-fought victory. The team lost focus at times, our energy dropped, and we couldn’t close it in three sets. We played together and the trust in our coach helped us get back on the path to victory. Costa Rica improved their energy a lot as the match went on. We are very happy because we have already improved on the position we finished in at the last Cup; it’s a great achievement for Nicaragua.”
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