Costa Rica Moves Closer to Its Ninth

Central American Games Title

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, October 20, 2025.– Costa Rica defeated hosts Guatemala 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-12) in the semifinals of the women’s volleyball tournament at the 12th Central American Games Guatemala 2025, moving closer to securing its ninth title in the history of the regional event.

Costa Rica will play for the gold medal against the winner of the other semifinal between Belize and Nicaragua, while Guatemala will compete for the bronze medal, aiming to repeat its achievement from the previous edition, when it earned its third bronze in the history of the Games.

Costa Rica led throughout the first set, building a seven-point advantage (17-14) behind Ana Victoria Rojas and Tatiana Sayles. Guatemala, with María Andrea Santacruz leading the offense, capitalized on Costa Rican errors to tie at 23 points, but two mistakes by the hosts handed the set to Costa Rica.

The second set was dominated by the Costa Ricans, with Tannia Carazo joining the attack and contributing key blocks to contain Guatemala, who couldn’t recover. Costa Rica took the set comfortably to go up 2-0. In the third, the ticas again built a solid lead (14-7), as Lakysha Thompson added her firepower. Despite Ada Villalobos’ efforts for Guatemala, Costa Rica maintained control and closed the match with a block by Sayles over Aury Álvarez.

ALBUM CRC vs GUA

Costa Rica outperformed Guatemala in attack (40-35), blocking (7-1), and serving (3-0), with a similar number of errors (Costa Rica 21, Guatemala 25).

Top scorers for Costa Rica were Ana Victoria Rojas with 14 points, Tatiana Sayles with 12, and Tannia Carazo with 10. For Guatemala, María Andrea Santacruz scored 7 points.

Costa Rica’s head coach Braulio Godínez said: “I felt the players started a bit tense and nervous. Since Guatemala had scouting data on us, they thought it could affect them tactically. In the first set, we made many unforced errors, but from the second set on, they relaxed, played their game, and found their rhythm.”

Setter Yuliana González added: “We’ve been working on motivation and the desire to finish every match strong; that’s one of Costa Rica’s main strengths. We’re already in the final, and I’m very excited because the Central American Games hadn’t been played since 2017. Our goal is to bring home the gold again. Now we’ll focus and wait for our opponent.”