Costa Rica Defeats Nicaragua to Advance to Semifinals

 

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 2, 2026. – Costa Rica secured its place in the semifinals of the II AFECAVOL U17 Girls’ Central American Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) victory over Nicaragua in the first quarterfinal match.

 

Costa Rica will learn its semifinal opponent following the match between Belize and El Salvador, which will determine whether it faces Guatemala or Honduras. Both teams advanced directly to the semifinals after finishing atop their respective pools.

 

Costa Rica made the difference with its strong offense and effective serving. Although all three sets remained close through much of the contest, the Costa Ricans pulled away at key moments behind their serving. Jimena Rodríguez led the way with eight aces, while Lyan Alkhattab recorded three for Nicaragua.

 

Anny Bejarano led Costa Rica with 15 points, followed by Jimena Rodríguez and Sara Campos with 12 each. For Nicaragua, Mellie Velásquez scored seven points and Cesia Pérez added six.

 

Costa Rica held advantages in attacks (39-16), in blocks (6-1) and in aces (14-12). Costa Rica committed 28 unforced errors, while Nicaragua finished with 16.

 

Galería de imágenes en Flickr

 

María Andrade, Costa Rica captain: “We're very happy. We've worked and trained for this for months, and I'm really proud of what we've accomplished. I think the match became difficult whenever we built a big lead, but we talked about staying calm and keeping our focus during those moments. For tomorrow, we'll work a lot on the mental side because I feel that's one of the areas that affects us the most during matches.”

 

Alejandra Cisne, Nicaragua captain: “I think we were a little nervous. We didn't communicate enough on serve receive, and that affected us a lot. We also need to do a better job defending after our serves and improve our reception. In the end, it's another learning experience. We'll keep fighting and continue improving, but we need to communicate more and spend more time training together.”