PR announces women’s volleyball national team for NORCECA Continental Championship

Puerto Rico will compete in Group B along with the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Costa Rica at the 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship in Santo Domingo.

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Women’s National Volleyball Team heads into the 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship with competitive momentum after winning the bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games held in the Dominican Republic.

The tournament, which opens this Friday and runs through Aug. 29 at the Prof. Ricardo Gioriber Arias Volleyball Palace in Santo Domingo, D.R., serves as the gateway to the entire international cycle: qualification for the 2027 Pan American Games, a spot in the 2027 FIVB Women’s World Championship in the United States, and a direct berth to the Continental Olympic Qualifier, which will be played just two days later at the same venue.

Among the national teams competing will be Puerto Rico’s CAC Games opponents Cuba, Mexico, Canada and defending continental champion the Dominican Republic, with the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica rounding out the field. In the preliminary round, Puerto Rico, under head coach Juan C. Núñez, will compete in Group B along with the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Costa Rica.

The 14 players selected to represent Puerto Rico are setters Wilmarie Rivera and Jennifer Nogueras; middle blockers Neira Ortiz, Diana Reyes, Adriana Rodríguez and Ana Sofía Jusino, outside/opposite hitters Decelise Champion, Dariana Hollingsworth, Valeria Vázquez, Leandra Mangual, Paola Santiago and Ivania Ortiz; and liberos Shara Venegas and Okiana Valle de Jesús.