Adam Kujawski, Staff Writer
The first two games and the final two games between the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers and the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals were night and day in terms of competitiveness.
The Lady Chargers ultimately needed four games to defeat the Lady Cardinals 25-23, 23-25, 25-13, 25-13 on Tuesday night at Brownsville Veterans.
Each team is battling for a playoff position in District 32-6A as the season winds down. Brownsville Veterans is still eying the top spot, and Harlingen High is battling for third place with the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles.
“Harlingenplayed well the first two games,” Brownsville Veterans coach Lisa Mares said. “They’re hunting for a playoff spot. They’re not going to go away easily.”
The Lady Chargers (11-1 in district) ultimately proved their dominance during Games 3 and 4, winning each by 12 points. But that wasn’t before Harlingen High (6-6) gave them a scare early in the match.
During the first two games, the sides were evenly balanced. The Lady Cardinals had a chance to grab Game 1 out of the gate. Ahead 19-13 and in control, poor defense by Harlingen High allowed the Lady Chargers to get back into the game. The score was tied at 23, but Brownsville Veterans pulled ahead for the win following a crucial Mariza Cardenas block.
Game 2 was nearly a mirror image of the first. Brownsville Veterans jumped out to a 14-9 lead, but Harlingen High fought its way back to tie the game at 16 behind strong offensive play from Addison Dickey. With the Lady Chargers ahead 23-20 and ready to take a 2-0 lead in games, the Lady Cardinals strung together five consecutive points, capped by a powerful Anabel Ricardo kill.
“During the first two games, I thought our defense was really bad. We stepped it up after that, and that was the difference,” Mares said.
Brownsville Veterans took control during a dominant third game, which was powered by Megan Sanchez. She stepped behind the line and served an ace for the Lady Chargers, the first of a string of 11 straight points that included three kills by Sarah Sandoval. The game was out of reach for Harlingen High with the score 19-8 at the end of Sanchez’s run.
“We got caught in a rotation that we need to fix,” Lady Cardinals coach Jennifer Martinezsaid. “The first two and a half games I can’t complain, we just didn’t finish. We should’ve finished the first game because we had the lead. We’re our biggest enemy. We put ourselves in positions we can’t get out of.”
The fourth game was equally lopsided. Brownsville Veterans again pulled ahead early and never looked back. A 17-7 lead combined with missed offensive opportunities for the Lady Cardinals was enough to seal the match.
Cardenas , along with Sandoval and teammate Daniella Collaso, led all players in kills with 15, 14 and 13, respectively. B.B. Brown aided her attackers with a match-leading 30 assists.
Ricardo led Harlingen High in kills with 13, and Dickey added 8. Zelda Ortiz led the Lady Cardinals with 18 assists.
The teams again will play at noon Saturday. Brownsville Veterans will play host to the first-place Los Fresnos Lady Falcons,and Harlingen High will welcome in the Lopez Lady Lobos.
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.