Santurce stays undefeated, Manatí holds off Juncos in 5 sets

Tamara Otene led undefeated Santurce with 20 points. (Heriberto Rosario – FPV)

By THE STAR STAFF

Last Friday’s matches in the Women’s Superior Volleyball League (LVSF by its initials in Spanish) saw the Cangrejeras of Santurce remain undefeated with their fourth victory of the season over the defending champion Criollas of Caguas, while the Atenienses of Manatí split points after defeating the Valencianas of Juncos in five sets.

At Roger Mendoza Vidal Coliseum in Caguas, the Cangrejeras (13-0) added three more points to raise their season total to 36, after defeating the Criollas in four sets -- 19-25, 28-26, 26-24, 25-10.

With a 2-1 lead in the match, Santurce dominated the fourth set, taking the first technical timeout 8-3 thanks to a successful attack by Andrea Rangel in zone two. Then, an 8-0 run culminated in a spike by Tamara Otene in zone four.

The Cangrejeras reached set point at 24-6 with another attack that landed in zone one of the Caguas side, and closed out the set and the match 25-10 with a block by Neira Ortiz on Diana Reyes during an attempted attack through the middle.

Santurce prevailed in all statistical categories: 61-50 in attacks, 15-8 in blocks, 4-1 in aces, 93-81 in digs, 45-35 in passes and 26-12 in assists.

Five players scored in double figures for the Cangrejeras: Otene with 20 points, followed by Helena Grozer with 19, Kara McGhee with 16, and Rangel and Ortiz with 11 each.

Génesis Collazo had 16 points and Jenaisya Moore added 15 for Caguas (8-8, 25 points), which remained in second place in the LVSF standings.

In the night’s other match, the Atenienses defeated the Valencianas with set scores of 25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 27-29 and 15-12.

Fourth-place Manatí (6-10, 19 points) earned two points, while last-place Juncos (5-10, 15 points) added a point.