Spanish text at URL:
archivo.primerahora.com/archivo.asp?guid=8DD2D5873E2846529A4E94847859E8EE&keyword=san sebastian
Monday, June 21 2004
Jessica Rosa Andean FIRST HOUR
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SAN SEBASTIÁN LEAVES THE BASEMENT
25:18, 25:20,
SAN SEBASTIÁN. - Black and red, or red and black. The Caribes de San Sebastián or the Leones de Ponce. The two sextets were thrown onto the court with the same uniform: red shirt and black pant.
In order to identify the players you had to either know them or read the names on the shirts of the Caribes; the Leones wore no identification.
Who won? The red and black team, of course.
The starting whistle sounded. The victory was important for both teams in that it provided the opportunity to rise high enough in the seeding to qualify for the post season playoffs.
The Caribes were local, they did not have to travel far to the Pepino; and maybe that was the reason for winning the first game 25-18.
The Leones had to put the long trip from the Pearl of the South behind them, and get used to the coliseum Luis Aymat Cardona of this City. But it took only one game for the southerners to warm up their motors.
The two teams were complete, each one with their two foreign players. In the second game, the veteran Enrique " Papolito" López’ excellent setting won the game, as the team took advantage of the Caguas’ errors. The Leones dominated the game from the beginning. They continued to lead 5-2, 8-4, 11-5 and 16-9 into the second technical time out.
Jorge Pérez Vento, trainer of San Sebastián, took advantage of the technical time out, because when they returned, the “Pepinianos” reacted well and advanced the score to 21-18. This caused Hiram " Avioneta, " coach of the Leones to requested a time out to dampen the spirit of their rivals. The strategy worked and Ponce won 25-20.
The Leones suffered a low blow in the third game. With the score at 21-16 in favor of Ponce, the Caribes started to block ( they had played very conservatively in the first two games) This contributed to four of the next six consecutive points for the Caribes to gain the advantage of 22-21.
A service error by Carlos Luis López tied the score at 22-22 and and ace by Carlos Pietri gave the 23:22 advantage to the Leones . David Lee, one of the American foreign players of the Caribes, tied the game at 23:23. A blocking error by Ponce gave the home team game point at 24-23, but Jeff Ptak tied the score at 24-24 to make the fans of the Caribes sit down again. They had been quick to celebrate the success of their team.
Juan Méndez played the ball and the Caribes got ahead 25-24. Pérez Vento tried to calm his players down, but the atmosphere in the stadium was sizzling. The Pepiniana spectators expected action. Eduardo "Cocolo" Galarza tied the score again at 25-25. He then missed the serve to brake the tie and give the advantage to the home team 26-25. Robert Muñiz, of Ponce, shanked the ball and it calmed things down a bit at 26-26. Both teams used up their time outs. They had to give it their all. The Brazilian Fernando Pessoa lobbed the ball over to the opposite side of the court to give the lead to the Caribes at 27-26. Ptak tied the score at 27-27.
Papolito López served an " ace " (28-27). " Picky " Sota tied the score again (28-28). Mannix Román returned the advantage to his team with a kill (29-28). Juan Méndez block against Ryan Burrow sealed the emotional victory for the Caribes for this game at 30-28.
After this exhausting confrontation one would expect that the intensity of play between these two teams would diminish, but is not what happened. The Leones roared more than ever and they didn't feel down after losing the previous game because of the level of play they had exhibited. This time they didn't give San Sebastian any opportunity to react and with the attack well distributed by the experienced setter, the Leones won 25-18 the fourth Game. With that they forced the deciding fifth game tiebreaker.
The game began as a big battle. After a tie at 6-6, a service error by Muñiz and another error by Ptak gave the Caribes sufficient advantage at 8-6 to win the game with 15-12. This victory lifted the Caribes out of the last place seed while the Leones stay in seventh position in spite of the defeat. Both teams are vying for a post season playoff position.
