Costa Rica Surprises Mexico in Straight Sets

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, September 23, 2026.- Costa Rica surprised Mexico with a straight-set 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-23) victory at the Men’s U23 Pan American Cup, being held at the Gimnasio del Palacio de los Deportes Carlos “El Famoso” Hernández in the Salvadoran capital.

Costa Rica held the lead throughout the match. Despite three competitive sets, the Central Americans were able to execute in the key moments and close out each one to secure the victory.

Costa Rica improved to a 1-0 record, while Mexico moved to 1-1. Costa Rica will close the pool-play phase on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. against Nicaragua.

In the team statistics, Costa Rica held the advantage in attacks 41-36 and blocks 9-7, while Mexico led in aces 6-5.

Costa Rica’s Stanley Grant was the match’s leading scorer with 22 points, while Ignacio Morales added 11 points in the victory. For Mexico, Bryan Vasquez scored 12 points and Fernando Cadena added 10.

Stanley Grant, Costa Rica’s top scorer: “We are very happy with the victory. This gives us the hope of earning a direct berth to the semifinals with a win tomorrow. Now we have to keep working.

“We had already played against this Mexico team before at the U21 level, so we knew each other, and the good direction from our coaching staff helped us a lot in earning the victory.”