By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
Following Tuesday’s regional quarterfinal victory, the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons punched their ticket to play in a regional semifinal match against San Antonio Churchill at 6 p.m. Friday in San Antonio.
While Los Fresnos has accomplished its first goal, which was to make it to the Sweet 16, it isn’t content with getting this far.
“There’s unfinished business,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “I want to get these girls to Garland(where the state tournament will be held). And if we’re all clicking on one night, I feel sorry for whoever’s across the court from us because I think I have the talent, the chemistry and the athletes on this team to get it done.”
It’s taken three wins for Los Fresnos to get to San Antonio. During the bi-district round of the tournament, it breezed by Weslaco High and handed a tough opponent in McAllen Memorial a loss in the area round.
However, Tuesday’s win over the McAllen Rowe Lady Warriors didn’t come as easily.
The Lady Falcons needed to overcame several attack and service errors but found their stride at just the right time to win the match.
Woods knows errors can’t be a part of the equation if her team is going to advance again.
“I think they were nervous,” Woods said. “We were playing safe. If we start playing these tipping games, it’s not going to work.
“We may get down, but we need to fight back, just like we did (Tuesday) night.”
The Lady Falcons competed in an invitational tournament in San Antoniobefore the season began, and though they didn’t meet up with Churchill, they saw teams of a similar talent level.
Based on what Woods has seen, she thinks it can go toe-to-toe with any team this weekend.
“We match up size-wise with (Churchill),” she said, “and I think I have the better athletes. But (Churchill has) strong, powerful hitters. If we can execute our blocks, play good defense and if our offense does its job, we can win.”
Churchill has only lost one match since Sept. 23 and aside from a close, five-game match against Northside O’Connor in the area round, has won each of its postseason matches in convincing fashion. It won 3-0 in the bi-district round against Cibolo Steele, which defeated a shorthanded Los Fresnos team earlier in the season.
“After we got done with the regular season, I told the girls they need five games to get to state,” Woods said. “Well, we’ve eliminated three. Now I told them they need four to be state champions, so let’s count them down again. We’re taking it one game at a time.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.