Criollas tie the Kia Final Series with

straight-sets victory over Cangrejeras

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico, April 26, 2025. – The Criollas de Caguas tied the KIA Final Series of the Women’s Superior Volleyball League (LVSF) by defeating the Cangrejeras de Santurce 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) at home, the Roger Mendoza Coliseum.

With a two-set lead, the Criollas took the first technical timeout of the third set 8-5 and pulled ahead 13-9 after an attack error by Kara McGhee, prompting Spanish head coach Pascual Saurín to call his first timeout.

The home team maintained a stable passing and took the second technical timeout 16-11 following another attack error by the Cangrejeras.

Kath Bell attacked from the back row to extend the lead, and Diana Reyes served an ace that pushed Caguas ahead 18-12, a gap from which Santurce never recovered.

The Criollas reached set point at 24-16 with an effective attack from Kristin Lux on the outside (zone 4). After one point from Santurce, Lux struck again to seal the victory with another precise attack.

The series will continue Sunday at the same venue, starting at 7:00 p.m.

After the match, Cangrejeras head coach Pascual Saurín said:

"You never expect to lose. I always come to play expecting to win. What I knew was that it would be difficult and tough, this is going to be the final series: two strong teams, two evenly matched teams, and the home-court advantage will likely play a big role. We knew today would have an atmosphere like this. Caguas came out to give it their all, and we weren’t comfortable on the court. We tried, but in the end, it just didn’t happen for us."

Regarding what the Cangrejeras did successfully in the first match but not in this second one, the Spanish coach added:

"It’s simply about having the right sensations. In the first match, we blocked a lot. Today, our blocking wasn't effective, mainly because we didn’t serve well. Our serving was very weak, very soft, and they, on the other hand, served very well and felt comfortable. They blocked us quite a bit. Tomorrow is another match. First, we need to recover well, and we’ll surely see a different match than what we saw today."

Caguas head coach Juan Carlos Núñez commented:

"We didn’t come looking for a 3-0 sweep; we just came to do what we had to do: defend our home court. We needed to improve a lot from the way we played the first day because statistically, nothing worked for us. We had to find a way to serve better, be more effective at the net, and offensively match up with them. Things worked out for us today. We matched their energy through our defense, and it turned out pretty well."

As for the plans for tomorrow’s match, Núñez concluded:

"The series is now tied. We’re heading into a third match, and we’ll keep doing what we have to do: defend our home court."

The Criollas’ offense was well distributed among their three foreign players. Kath Bell led the team with 17 points (15 kills and 2 blocks), followed by Kristin Lux with 12 points and Temi Thomas-Ailara with 11.

For Santurce, Tamara Otene was the only player in double digits with 13 points (12 kills and 1 block).

Caguas outperformed Santurce in attacks (42-35), blocks (10-7), aces (2-0), and digs (58-57). Santurce led in receptions (48-28) and assists (26-19).