Costa Rica Downs Suriname in NORCECA Girls’ U17 Opener

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, November 4, 2025. – Host nation Costa Rica opened the 2025 NORCECA Girls’ U17 Continental Championship with a convincing 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-16) victory over Suriname in Pool A action on Tuesday at the Gimnasio Nacional.

On the second day of competition, a qualifier for the 2026 FIVB Girls’ U17 World Championship, Costa Rica (1-0) will face Canada (0-1), while Suriname (0-1) meets the Dominican Republic (1-0).

The opening set was tightly contested early on; with both teams trading points up to 11-all. Costa Rica then broke away with strong attacking from Luciana Vargas and effective serving by Charlotte Martínez, combined with several Suriname errors to take a 14-11 lead. Martínez added two consecutive blocks and Victoria Cobeña contributed from the service line as the home team secured the first set.

Cobeña continued to be a key factor in the second set, helping Costa Rica jump ahead 8-4. With contributions from Martínez and Vargas, the hosts extended their lead to 16-9. A crucial block by Sofía Quesada over Suriname’s Zoe Roethof further widened the gap. Costa Rica capitalized on 12 unforced errors from their opponents to take a 2-0 set advantage.

Suriname started the third set with greater determination, keeping the score tied up to 6 points with Cherelle Meulenhof joining Roethof on offense. Livana Verheul’s consistent serving helped Suriname stay close, leveling the actions at 12-all. However, Costa Rica once again pulled away behind Vargas’ attacking and Cobeña’s blocking, forcing additional Suriname errors to complete the straight-set victory.

Costa Rica held the statistical edge in every skill: attacks (25-18), blocks (5-4), and service aces (11-3). The hosts also benefited from 34 opponent errors while committing only 18 themselves.

Victoria Cobeña led Costa Rica with 11 points (7 kills, 1 block, 3 aces), followed by Luciana Vargas with 10 kills. Zoe Roethof of Suriname topped all scorers with 12 points.

Kelliany Rodriguez, captain of Costa Rica, said: “I think our spirit was the key to the victory. Our attack was very good.”

Cherelle Meulenhof, team captain Suriname spoke about her team’s performance:  “We didn’t perform how we know how to play. We could have done much better. We weren’t focused. Next time we’re going to do better than today”.