Guatemala Defeats Costa Rica and Finishes

Fifth at U23 Pan American Cup

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, August 3, 2025.- Guatemala won the Central American derby against Costa Rica 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-14) to secure fifth place at the Men’s U23 Pan American Cup, held at the Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala’s capital.

This was the second time the Central American squads met in the tournament; during the preliminary round, Guatemala defeated Costa Rica 3-1.

The match started evenly until point 15, when Guatemala took a 4-point lead, which Costa Rica quickly erased, but Guatemala ultimately came out on top to win the set.

The second set was a back-and-forth battle until point 20, when Guatemala pulled ahead to claim the set. The third set was entirely dominated by Guatemala, clearly outperforming Costa Rica.

In attacks, the match was very even, ending in favor of Guatemala (37-35), who also led in blocks (8-4). Costa Rica was superior in serves (6-1).

Roberto Mendizábal led Guatemala’s offense with 14 points, including three blocks, being the only Guatemalan player in double digits. For Costa Rica, Dowshel Mc Donald was the top scorer of the match with 18 points (15 attacks, 1 block, 2 aces), followed by Ignacio Morales with 11 points.

Guatemala’s coach Reider Lucas stated, “I’m going to be honest, we should have qualified to the semifinals, we made every effort and couldn’t make it, then we had to fight for positions 5-8. We know this is a high-level event, with great prospects for the teams.”

“Our boys did their job, they gave their best, and we played the kind of volleyball we aim for and keep improving every day,” he concluded.

Costa Rica’s coach Cesar Salas said, “We accomplished what we wanted; we are trying to build a group of players. We saw good things, like against Venezuela, but we also saw that we still have a long way to go. We saw Guatemala’s team very well structured, and we know we have things to improve.”