Santurce Strikes First in the KIA LVSF Grand Final

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, April 24, 2025.- The defending champions, Cangrejeras de Santurce, capitalized on their home-court advantage at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum to take the opening match of the KIA Final Series of the Women’s Volleyball Superior League (LVSF), edging out the Criollas de Caguas in an exciting five-set battle (23-25, 25-13, 25-20, 24-26, 15-7).

Holding a 2-1 set lead, the home team took the first technical timeout of the fourth set 8-4 after a block by Kara McGhee on Alba Hernández. Caguas responded with a 12-7 run and clinched the second technical timeout by a narrow margin following a service error from Santurce.

Both teams continued in a fierce back-and-forth, testing each other’s serve reception. A deflected attack by Temi Thomas Ailara gave Santurce a two-point edge at 21-19. However, the Criollas regrouped, tied the set at 22 after an attack error by Andrea Rangel, and snatched the set 26-24 thanks to an ace by Thomas and a clean finish from Kath Bell.

In the fifth and deciding set, Santurce jumped ahead 6-3 and reached the side switch with an 8-4 lead, boosted by a service ace from Tamara Otene. Caguas was unable to recover.

Following the win, Cangrejeras captain Débora Seilhamer stated:

“We knew it was going to be an extremely tough game. We were prepared to go to the full five sets. Obviously, it’s going to be a hard-fought series from start to finish.”

The series now moves to Caguas at the Roger Mendoza court for back-to-back matches on Saturday and Sunday. About this, the veteran Seilhamer added:

“We need to prepare physically for that. Caguas has a deep bench, so they can rotate players more. We need to manage ourselves better, take care of our bodies, and try to steal one or two games in Caguas.”

Criollas captain Raymarielys Santos commented:

“We must keep working. Every night there will be a battle, so we must continue improving in every area. I believe the next practice will be very important. We need to keep studying Santurce and improve our serving. It’s going to be a long series, and we have to keep going.”

On offense for Santurce, standouts included Tamara Otene with 27 points, Helena Grozer with 20, Andrea Rangel with 18, and Kara McGhee with 15.

For Caguas, Temi Thomas Ailara led with 21 points, followed by Kristin Lux with 12 and Kath Bell with 11.

Santurce dominated the stats: 64-51 in attacks, 17-13 in blocks, 9-3 in service aces, 119-110 in digs, 48-40 in receptions, and 41-25 in assists.

The series is a best-of-seven; the first team to win four games will be crowned champion.