GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, July 29, 2025. – In the opening match of Pool A at the U23 Men’s Pan American Cup, Venezuela bounced back from losing the first set to defeat Costa Rica 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-11) at the Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala City.
The first set was up for grabs until point 18, when Costa Rica pulled ahead and never lost momentum. In the second set, Venezuela trailed most of the way as Costa Rica led up to point 16, but the Central Americans lost their advantage and the South Americans capitalized on the loss of control to win the set and tie the match 1-1.
In the third set, the Venezuelans took control from the start, and in the fourth set, Costa Rica faded away, leaving too many open spaces for Venezuela to execute their attack.
Venezuela outperformed Costa Rica in attacks (53-30) and service aces (5-2). Both teams tied in blocks with 8 apiece.
Four Venezuelan players led their team’s offense: Carlos Luis Berrios topped with 16 points, followed by Nixon Gabriel Reyes with 13, Carlos Eduardo Beroes with 12, and Yoisbel Josue Galeno with 11. For Costa Rica, and the match’s top scorer, Dowshel Mc Donald scored 17 points.
Yanni Capuzzi, Venezuela’s head coach, said: “Thank God we started the U23 Pan American Cup on the right foot. The match was a bit complicated for us at the beginning, we missed a lot of serves, but later we made some adjustments in that area, as well as in distribution and how we would work with our setter, and we won. We’re moving forward.”
Cesar Salas, Costa Rica’s head coach, commented: “We had two sides, a very solid and good team in the first set. We did a great job in the second, but from there we became a totally different team. The opponent is very strong, a heavyweight rival, but I can’t justify the fact that we made too many reception errors and completely lost our attack.”
“This is part of what we came here to do – to build and correct. It’s part of the objective, and this match served that purpose,” Salas concluded.
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