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Perez & Jackson win all-American final
to triumph as U21 world champions
PUEBLA, Mexico, October 20, 2025.- USA’s Sally Perez & Avery Jackson
travelled all the way from the qualifications to the top of the
women’s podium at the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World
Championships in Puebla. In their first tournament together, they
dropped only two sets in nine matches played to triumph with the
world title. It was the second time the junior women’s world title
was won by an American team, after Tara Roenicke & Summer Ross
claimed it in 2010.
Another US pair, Zoey Henson & Sarah Wood, took silver after
conceding the all-American final in Mexico on Sunday afternoon. Two
of these four Americans – Sally Perez, now 19, and Sarah Wood, now
17 – claimed bronze at the U19 World Championship last year together
and now they have both built up on that achievement, but with
different partners.
Another team that made their way from the qualifications to the
medal matches, Brazil’s Marcela Barbosa & Maria Clara, claimed the
bronze.
The first set of the gold medal showdown offered a great battle. In
the money time, Henson & Wood broke away with a 19-16 lead, but
Perez & Jackson reacted with four in a row to reach the first set
point. The set was pushed deep into overtime with both sides failing
to convert their opportunities to close it off. Finally, a monster
block by Perez ended the set and gave her team the lead. With three
points in a row, Perez & Jackson broke away with 14-11 advantage in
the second set and never looked back.
A pokey by Perez again ended the match at 2-0 (25-23, 21-15).
“It’s incredible! We’ve worked so far for this! Avery deserves this!
She deserved the opportunity and I wanted to win it for her, so I am
just super proud of us!” tearful Perez told FIVB.com right after the
victory.
“This was such a competitive tournament, so just knowing that we
were able to stick together (we never played with each other before
and I am not a defender!), this is really awesome for us! We stuck
through it and stayed positive,” Jackson added.
2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship: schedule and
results | 
