Olmstead coaches US Women’s U21 team to Pan Am Cup title
Courtesy BYU Athletics
BYU women's volleyball coach Heather Olmstead (front row, far right) led the US U21 team to the 2025 Pan Am Games title in Puerto Rico on Sunday, July 27, 2025.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.
Olmstead returns to Provo for the start of summer practices in preparation for the 2025 BYU women’s volleyball season. The Cougars open with an exhibition match against Idaho State at Ogden High School on Aug.23 and host the doTERRA Classic at the Smith Fieldhouse beginning Aug. 29.
Key returners include leading hitter Claire Little Chambers (3.88 kills per set), sophomore setter Alex Bower (10.01 assists per set) and 6-foot-5 junior middle blocker Brielle Kemavor (1.47 blocks per set).
Last year, the Cougars finished 19-10 overall and 12-6 in Big 12 play. BYU lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Loyola-Chicago in a sweep.
