Cameron Muh
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica — BYU women's volleyball head coach Heather Olmstead led the U.S. Women’s U21 National Team to a gold-medal finish at the 2025 NORCECA Women’s Pan American Cup on Sunday.
“I’m happy for the group to come together over two weeks and play well in the final against a good Chile team," Olmstead said. "Everyone contributed and I was glad how they kept their focus the whole match. We played our best volleyball at the end. It was a great tournament, and Costa Rica did a great job hosting it. We are just really grateful to be here and to represent the USA.”
Olmstead's Americans didn't drop a set during the tournament, winning all five of its matches via 3-0 sweeps. Going 3-0 in pool play, the U.S. earned a quarterfinal bye, advancing automatically to the semifinal.
The Americans beat Chile in the gold medal match by a combined 30 points across the three sets (25-18, 25-14, 25-13), and Canada in the semifinal by 19 points (25-17, 25-19, 25-20).
Facing Canada (25-18, 25-15, 25-13), Puerto Rico (25-13, 25-7, 25-15) and Chile (25-18, 25-19, 25-11) in pool play, the U.S. won its five matches by a combined 145 points.
With the victory over Chile on Sunday night, the Americans clinched their third-consecutive Pan Am title, also winning the Cup in 2022 and 2023.
This is the fourth gold medal that Olmstead has won with the United States. She led the U21 Americans to gold at the NORCECA Continental Championship last summer, won gold as an assistant coach with the U21 team at the 2022 Pan American Cup and as an assistant with the U.S. national team at the 2015 Pan American Games.