Caribes win at home to close the gap in LVSM finals

The Caribes’ Diego Villafañe, Pedro Nieves and Ezequiel Cruz celebrate a point.

By THE STAR STAFF

The two-time champion Caribes of San Sebastián successfully defended Luis Aymat Cardona Coliseum in San Sebastián on Monday night to secure their first victory in the Men’s Superior Volleyball League (LVSM) Final Series, defeating the Cafeteros of Yauco in four sets.

San Sebastián had lost the first two hard-fought matches in five sets, but Monday night was different. From the start, a more stable, more cohesive, and, above all, more confident team was evident, as expressed by middle blocker Pedro Nieves, a key component in the victory, as he reflected on the change in attitude shown by the Caribes.

“First of all, I’m grateful to God. This is a spectacle that fills me with great joy. These are two great teams that reached the final for a reason,” he said. “My respect always goes to the Cafeteros de Yauco. They hadn’t reached a final in years, and they have that hunger to beat us. They are a team that fights hard. I think the difference today was that we believed in ourselves more. We know that things will happen; we are human and we will make mistakes, but we look for ways to stay united as a family.”

Regarding what they need to do to return from Yauco with the series tied, Nieves was clear: “Stay calm, don’t get distracted by things that are not under our control. Focus on what we can do and trust the game plan.”

The set scores of the Caribes’ victory were 20-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-21.

With the match tied at one set apiece, the third set became a point-for-point battle. The last tie came at 23, at which point San Sebastián closed out the set with an effective attack by Nieves through the middle and a double contact called on Cafeteros’ attacker Juan Felipe Castañeda, who attempted to return the ball on the third touch.

In the fourth set, the aggressive serving of the Caribes and the combined offense of Pelegrín Vargas and Corey Chavers -- with 22 and 18 points respectively -- tipped the scales in favor of the home team. Nieves added 11 points, including four blocks.

On the Cafeteros’ side, setter Kevin Rodríguez acknowledged the difficulty of the match, although he did not hide his frustration with some moments of the game.

“We are in their home; we knew it was going to be a tough match, and it was,” he said. “They did what they had to do: defend their home court. We were going to play hard, but the errors killed us a little bit in the key moments.”

Rodríguez also reacted to some refereeing decisions, although without using them as an excuse.

“I don’t agree with what happened with the referees, but that’s no excuse. We had the game in our hands,” he said before looking ahead to the next match. “We need to be a little more patient and leave the referees alone. Patience is the key to this series. When we return here, minimizing errors and those counterattacks will be important in the tough moments. With that, we can come away with the victory.”

Yauco’s offense was distributed among Brandon Rattray (17 points), Castañeda (12) and Diego Negrón (10).

The best-of-seven series continues today at Raúl “Pipote” Oliveras Coliseum in Yauco starting at 8 p.m.