Costa Rica Defeats U.S. Virgin Islands in

Pool B of the U21 Pan American Cup

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 7, 2026. – Costa Rica opened its Pool B campaign at the 2026 NORCECA Women’s U21 Pan American Cup with a straight-set victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands, 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-22), on Tuesday at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Costa Rica controlled the match from the opening set, dominating in attacks (39-27), blocks (2-1), and service aces (8-3). The U.S. Virgin Islands showed improvement in the third set, cutting the deficit to two points before the Costa Ricans closed out the match.

Nhya Barley led Costa Rica with 13 points, followed by María Venegas with 11, while Amelie Jenkins contributed 8.

For the U.S. Virgin Islands, Brielle Nestor led with 12 points. Avielle Lewis added 5 points and Heaven Preni finished with 4.

Ciro Zoratti, head coach of Costa Rica: "The first match of a tournament is always difficult because you don't know your opponent, and some of our players were competing together for the first time. We're satisfied with the result. I also want to congratulate the U.S. Virgin Islands for playing a great match, and now our focus is on tomorrow."

Raphael Isaac, head coach of the U.S. Virgin Islands: "We started out nervous—beginnings are always difficult—but we improved as the match went on. That's what I'm looking for because these are very young players, between 16 and 18 years old. If they continue to improve, we'll get where we want to be."