U.S. Women Dominate Costa Rica, Stay Unbeaten at 2024 Pan Am Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 21, 2024) –The U.S. Women’s National Team rolled past winless Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-15) to move to 4-0 at the 2024 NORCECA Pan American Cup on Wednesday in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

The win set up a showdown with Argentina (3-0) for first place in Pool B on Thursday, Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. PT. The winner will move directly into Saturday’s semifinals with the loser set to play in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

The U.S. dominated every facet of the match, posting a 42-15 advantage in kills, 9-3 in blocks, and 7-1 in service aces. The U.S. hit at a .388 efficiency percentage, while Costa Rica hit -.075 with seven more errors than kills.

“Another good match for us. We got to work on some things and get better in some specific areas that are really going to help us in the upcoming matches,” said head coach Brad Rostratter. “It was great to see us execute at a pretty good rate, and hopefully we can translate that into more and more matches down the road.”

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

Five players scored between 10 and 12 points for the well-balanced U.S. attack. Middle blocker Amber Igiede led all players with 12 points on eight kills, two blocks and a pair of aces.

“I was super excited about this match because this ensured we would go into the next round. We have really worked hard as a team and we had a lot of fun,” Igiede said.

Outside hitter Claire Hoffman and opposite Stephanie Samedy each registered double-doubles. Hoffman scored 11 points on nine kills, one block and an ace with a match-high 10 successful receptions and also recorded eight digs. Samedy totaled 10 points on eight kills and two aces to go with 10 digs.

Libero Sarah Sponcil led all players with 15 digs and added five successful receptions. Outside Jaali Winters, who produced a match-high 10 kills with a block, scored 11 points and finished with eight digs and six successful receptions. Middle Breland Morrissette finished with five blocks, two more than the entire Costa Rica team, and totaled 10 points with four kills and an ace.

Setters Ella Powell and Jenna Gray ran the offense that recorded a 27-kill advantage. Powell contributed two kills, an ace and three digs. Jenna Gray added a kill and two digs. Igeide (four) and Morrissette (three) combined for seven digs from the middle blocker position.

Strong serving by Winters early in the opening set helped the U.S. jump out in front, 9-4. After Costa Rica scored the next two points, the U.S. ran off eight consecutive points and finished the set by scoring 16 of the final 18 points. Morrissette registered four blocks in the set, adding two kills, to lead the team with six points. Igiede totaled five points on three kills, a block and an ace.

Costa Rica took its biggest lead of the match by scoring the opening three points of the second set. The U.S. moved ahead with a 6-1 run, but Costa Rica scored three consecutive points again to regain the lead. From there, the U.S. took over with a 12-2 run that made it 18-9.  Winters led all players with six kills, while Hoffman (two kills, one block, one ace) and Igiede (three kills, one block) each contributedfour points.

Winters scored three early points to help stake the U.S. to a 10-5 lead in the early stages of the third set. Costa Rica was unable to come any closer than four points the remainder of the set. Samedy led the way with five points on four kills and an ace, and Hoffman recorded four kills.

U.S. Women’s Roster for the 2024 NORCECA Pan American Cup
4 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-2, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)
5 Kendall Kipp (Opp, 6-6, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
6 Serena Gray (MB, 6-3, Temple City, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
7 Claire Hoffman (OH, 6-2, Pleasant Hill, Ore., Univ. of Washington, Columbia Empire)
8 Amber Igiede (MB, 6-3, Baton Rouge, La., Univ. of Hawaii, Delta)
9 Tia Jimerson (MB, 6-3, Sugar Hill, Ga., Ohio University, Southern)
12 Breland Morrissette (MB, 6-1, Birmingham, Ala., Georgia Tech, Southern)
13 Ella Powell (S, 6-0, Fayetteville, Ark., Univ. of Washington, Delta)
14 Sarah Sponcil (L, 5-10, Phoenix, Ariz., UCLA, Arizona)
15 Jaali Winters (OH, 6-3, Ankeny, Iowa, Creighton, Iowa)
17 Zoe Fleck (L, 5-6, Grenada Hills, Calif., Univ. of Texas, Southern California)
19 Jenna Gray (S, 6-1, Shawnee, Kan., Stanford Univ., Heart of America)
31C Roni Jones-Perry (OH, 6-0, West Jordan, Utah, BYU, Intermountain)
34 Stephanie Samedy (Opp, 6-2, Clermont, Fla., Univ. of Minnesota, Florida)

Head Coach: Brad Rostratter
Assistant Coach: Jonathan Charette
2nd Assistant Coach: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Team Manager: James Lundgren
Physiotherapist: Cherryl-Marie Bueno
Statistician: Peter Wong

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the Pan American Cup
(All times PT)
Matches will be livestreamed on Federación Mexicana de Voleibol Facebook page.

Aug. 18: USA def. Chile, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-18)
Aug. 19: USA def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-15)
Aug. 20: USA def. Cuba, 3-1 (21-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-10)
Aug. 21: USA def. Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-15)
Aug. 22: USA vs. Argentina, 4 p.m.
Aug. 23: Quarterfinals and classification
Aug. 24: Semifinals and classification
Aug. 25: Medal matches