SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, August 22, 2026.– Puerto Rico secured its first victory at the 2026 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship, defeating Costa Rica 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-15) at the “Prof. Ricardo Gioriver Arias” Volleyball Palace.
With the win, Puerto Rico improved to 1-1 in Pool B, while Costa Rica dropped to 0-2. Puerto Rico will close out pool play against the Dominican Republic, while Costa Rica will face Cuba. The top team in each pool will advance directly to the semifinals.
Puerto Rico held the advantage in all three scoring categories, leading in attacks (43-26), blocks (9-5), and serves (7-3). Both teams committed 16 errors.
Ivania Ortiz led Puerto Rico and all scorers with 11 points on seven attacks, one block, and three aces. Decelise Champion followed with nine points on six attacks, two blocks, and one ace, while Ana Jusino added seven points on six attacks and one ace.
For Costa Rica, Lakysha Thompson and Sofía Arroyo scored nine points apiece.
Juan Carlos Núñez, Puerto Rico’s coach: “After the loss on the first day, we had to find our rhythm. Today we were able to give playing time to the players who hadn’t had the opportunity to play, and now we’re preparing for tomorrow.”
Ciro Zoratti, Costa Rica’s coach: “Today we played some parts of the match very well, others poorly, and others very poorly. I’m very satisfied with that because it tells me that we can reach that level. Our challenge is to maintain that level throughout the entire match. I’m very happy because we’ve done something that is far above what we expected.”
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