Puerto Rico places 4th at Women’s Pan American Cup
By THE STAR STAFF
Puerto Rico finished in fourth place at the XXIII Women’s Pan American Cup, falling to host Mexico in the bronze medal match on Friday.
Mexico bounced back from its semifinal loss to claim the bronze medal at the XXIII Women’s Pan American Cup by defeating Puerto Rico 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 28-26) at the Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato.
The result marked Mexico’s first medal in the history of the Women’s Pan American Cup.
Puerto Rico took the first set 25-20, but Mexico rallied to win the second by the same score. The third set remained tight until the final points, when an attack by Uxue Guereca put Mexico ahead 24-22. Puerto Rico saved one set point before a service error handed the set to Mexico, 25-23.
The fourth set ended dramatically. Mexico reached set point leading 24-23, but Dariana Hollingsworth kept Puerto Rico alive with an attack. Sofía Maldonado, coming off the bench, then put Mexico ahead 25-24, though Hollingsworth tied the score again.
Grecia Castro made it 26-25 for Mexico, and Puerto Rico evened the score once more. Castro responded with another attack to make it 27-26, and an error by Puerto Rico on the final play sealed Mexico’s historic bronze medal, 28-26.
Mexico led 59-47 in attack points and 3-1 in aces, while both teams recorded 11 blocks. Puerto Rico committed fewer errors, 25 compared to Mexico’s 35.
Castro was the match’s top scorer with 22 points. Guereca contributed 17, Aimé Topete added 11 and Jocelyn Urías finished with 10.
Hollingsworth led Puerto Rico with 17 points, followed by Paola Santiago with 11.
“It is a very important medal,” Mexico coach Nicola Negro said. “We played a high-level group stage, displaying a much better level of volleyball than we showed at the NORCECA Continental Championship. Today our level dropped; fatigue set in, and we struggled. I don’t think we played particularly well, but fortunately, we won this historic medal.”
Puerto Rico head coach José Mieles was critical of the officiating in the bronze medal match and the tournament as a whole.
“I am not happy, first of all, with the result,” he said after the match. “Secondly, I believe the NORCECA Confederation needs to use the ‘video challenge’ system at this level. Honestly, I am not satisfied with the officiating in any of the matches. Having this tool helps us raise the level of competition. NORCECA needs to implement the ‘video challenge’ to bring greater seriousness to the competitions.”
Puerto Rico’s next engagement
The women’s national team now concludes its competitive summer at the NORCECA Final Six, which opened Saturday and runs through Sept. 28 in Zinacantepec in the State of Mexico, Mexico.
PR’s Vázquez, Ortiz earn all-tourney awards
Valeria Vázquez was named Best Receiver, while Ivania Ortiz won the award for Best Server following the conclusion of the tournament.
U.S. outside hitter Jessica Mruzik was named Most Valuable Player of the 2026 Women’s Pan American Cup after her team defeated the Dominican Republic in straight sets in the gold medal match on Friday.
Mruzik topped the list of individual awards as the United States secured its eighth gold medal, and its first since 2019.
The Dominican Republic’s Flormarie Heredia received two honors: Best Spiker and Top Scorer. She finished the tournament with 121 points on 112 attacks, eight blocks and one service ace. Her teammate Geraldine González was named Best Blocker after recording 34 effective blocks.
Mexico saw two of its players among the award winners. Aimé Topete was recognized as the Second Best Spiker, while Sofía Maldonado was named Best Opposite.
Yaneirys Rodríguez of the Dominican Republic won the awards for Best Libero and Best Defender, finishing with 162 digs. Canada’s Emma Boyd was recognized as the Second Best Blocker.
U.S. captain Rachel Fairbanks was named Best Setter, having recorded 52 effective sets.
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