Mexico Starts Final Six with Dramatic Five-Set Win over Puerto Rico

Mexico Starts Final Six with Dramatic

GUADALAJARA, Jalisco, September 15, 2025. – Mexico thrilled the home crowd by opening the 2025 NORCECA Women’s Final Six with a dramatic 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 15-8) victory over Puerto Rico on Monday night at Unidad Deportiva López Mateos in Guadalajara.

The highly competitive round-robin tournament brings together the region’s top six teams, with the best four advancing to the crossover semifinals.

Sofía Maldonado was Mexico’s driving force from the start, leading the offense to secure the first set. Paola Santiago and Decelise Champion responded for Puerto Rico, but Samantha Bricio’s strong serving and attack helped Mexico take control of the second set, building a 15-10 lead. Despite Puerto Rico’s late rally—sparked by Neira Ortiz’s stellar performance at the net and capitalizing on Mexico’s errors—the hosts closed it out to go up 2-0.

Puerto Rico refused to go quietly, storming back to take the next two sets. The visitors came from behind in the third, with Valeria Vázquez hammering down the set point. In the fourth, despite Mexico’s efforts to erase a five-point deficit, Puerto Rico maintained their pressure behind Vázquez, Diana Reyes, and Ortiz to force a deciding set.

In the tiebreaker, Mexico regained its composure and dominated, racing to a comfortable 15-8 finish. Maldonado and Bricio led the way as the home fans celebrated an emotional opening win.

Mexico outperformed Puerto Rico in attacks (57-49) and serves (7-3), while Puerto Rico led in blocking (14-11) and committed fewer errors (33-35).

Maldonado led all scorers with 25 points (21 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace), followed by Bricio with 19 (15 kills, 2 blocks, 2 aces) and Melanie Parra with 15 (11 kills, 1 block, 3 aces). For Puerto Rico, Vázquez, Reyes, and Champion each scored 13 points, while Ortiz added 12, including a match-high six blocks.

Mexico (1-0) will face Canada (0-1) on day two of the tournament, while Puerto Rico (0-1) takes on the Dominican Republic (1-0).

Jocelyn Urías, Mexico’s Captain: “Games against Puerto Rico are always intense. I feel we won the fifth set because we were very hungry for it; it really hurt not being able to close the match in three sets. In the last set, we couldn’t allow the loss or let Puerto Rico gain momentum when we had been controlling the rhythm of the game, so we came in with a lot of energy.”

Shara Venegas, Puerto Rico’s Captain: “We are a very physically strong team, and we were ready to play more sets, and I think that’s why we were able to come back from being two sets down, plus the rivalry we always have with Mexico gives us the adrenaline to keep going. I love playing against Mexico. They were able to finish at the end, and we were missing a bit more offense and couldn’t close, unlike the fourth set where we managed to do it.”