By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The volleyball season is winding down and after weeks of competition, and the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers and Los Fresnos Lady Falcons are on a collision course to decide the winner of District 32-6A.
The Lady Chargers (11-1 in district) lost their only 32-6A match of the season to the first-place Lady Falcons (12-0) on Sept. 30. With a win Saturday, the two teams will pull even in the standings with one game remaining.
“We’ll need to work on our defense,” Brownsville Veterans coach Lisa Mares said. “Los Fresnos is a great offensive team. They’ve got some power hitters.”
If the Lady Chargers pull off the home win and wind up tied with the Lady Falcons, one of two solutions will be applied to determine the playoff seeding. Either the teams play a tie-breaker match following the regular season, or the two coaches will flip a coin to select the No. 1 seed.
Though it may appear to be an unusual selection process, Mares indicated that most coaches are supportive of a coin flip in the interest of preserving their team’s health following a long season and not risking any unnecessary injuries.
However, each team would be named co-champion of the district if the records are even at the end of the season. Tiebreaking is only required for postseason positioning.
FIGHTING FOR A SPOT
The Harlingen High Lady Cardinals won five consecutive matches to pull themselves into playoff contention.
But that was last week. Since then, they have dropped two straight and are hanging on the edge of the playoff picture.
The Lady Cardinals (6-6) are in fourth place in District 32-6A, behind the Hanna Golden Eagles and ahead of the HarlingenSouth Lady Hawks.
“We need to keep going,” Harlingen High coach Jennifer Martinez said. “We have two games that we need to win so we can be in the playoffs.
“This is the team to do it. Now’s not the time to point fingers, now’s the time to be a team more than ever.”
Martinezhopes she can lead her team to the playoffs, a place the Lady Cardinals haven’t been in seven years. The last two games on their schedule include a home fixture against the last place Lopez Lady Lobos on Saturday and a road match against city rival Harlingen South on Oct. 28.
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.