For a young U.S. Virgin Islands girls volleyball team playing well above its age group, Monday’s match against Puerto Rico represented far more than a loss in the standings.
Competing in the 2026 NORCECA U19 Girls Continental Championship, the Virgin Islands claimed an impressive second-set victory over one of the Caribbean’s perennial volleyball powers before ultimately falling to Puerto Rico, 3-1. For a roster made up largely of players ages 14 to 16 competing in an under-19 championship, it was a performance that demonstrated both the program’s progress and its potential.
The tournament brings together many of the strongest girls’ volleyball programs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, giving the territory’s young athletes an opportunity to measure themselves against the region’s elite.
Just weeks earlier, many of the same players competed with the U21 national team in Columbus, Ohio, where the Virgin Islands was unable to win a set. That roster featured only four players between the ages of 17 and 20, with the remainder of the team made up of the same younger athletes now competing in Costa Rica.
After three older players aged out of the U19 roster, the team arrived in San José even younger than before. Yet instead of being overwhelmed, the Virgin Islands has continued to grow with each match.
The USVI opened the tournament by pushing Mexico before eventually dropping all three sets. Against Puerto Rico on Monday, however, the team took another step forward.
Puerto Rico claimed the opening set 25-14, but the Virgin Islands answered immediately.
Behind a dominant serving run from McKayla Mattis, the USVI raced to a 6-0 lead in the second set. Puerto Rico battled back to within two points, but the Virgin Islands refused to surrender the momentum, closing out a 25-21 victory to earn one of the most significant individual set wins in recent program history.
Puerto Rico regained control to win the final two sets, 25-17 and 25-15, securing the match, but the result did little to diminish what the young Virgin Islands squad had accomplished.
Opposite hitter Brielle Nestor turned in a breakout performance with 18 points, including 17 kills and one block, while libero Danielle Allen anchored the defense with seven digs.
The tournament format now gives the Virgin Islands two days to recover before returning to the court. After finishing as the highest-ranked third-place team among the tournament’s three pools, the USVI will face the winner of Cuba and Jamaica in the seventh-place classification match.
