By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
It took five games to decide the match, but the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers handed the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons their first District 32-6A loss of the season 19-25, 22-25, 25-18, 28-26, 15-13 on Saturday at Brownsville Veterans.
The Lady Chargers faced a 2-0 deficit in games and were in jeopardy of being swept out of their gym. That was before Brownsville Veterans coach Lisa Mares calmed and motivated her team before the third game.
“I thought the first two games they were thinking too much,” she said. “I told them to have fun, and they started to relax. I think that was the difference.”
Game 3 was close most of the way, and when the Lady Falcons fell behind 16-15, coach Becky Woods called a timeout. However, the timeout had an adverse effect, and Brownsville Veterans won four straight points out of the break. The Lady Chargers’ Maria Rios registered a kill to give her team a 22-16 lead and added another kill for the final point to secure the win.
Losing the third game didn’t sit well with Los Fresnos, and the Lady Falcons stormed out to a 9-3 lead. The Lady Chargers struggled to fight back and found themselves behind 20-12.
Brownsville Veterans went on a roll after that, however, and scored 10 of the next 12 points. The run was aided by three kills from Rios and two from Sarah Sandoval. The two teams exchanged points and found themselves tied at 26. Attack errors by Jackie Kingsbury and Joseline Caraveo, who otherwise each had a strong match, handed Brownsville Veterans Game 4 and tied the match.
The fifth game was back and forth once again. Neither team was able to take complete control until the Lady Chargers again capitalized down the stretch. Consecutive kills by Daniella Collaso, Sandoval and Rios sealed the match and pulled the teams even in the district standings.
“I told them after the fourth game that they were going to come back,” Mares said. “Since they won the last two I knew they were going to do it.”
Woods was upset with the loss but wasn’t going to let it get to her team.
“We’re going to be fine, we’re going to regroup, we’re going to move forward, make it through the playoffs and do a good job,” she said.
Mariza Cardenas led the Lady Chargers in kills with 21, flanked by Sandoval and Rios, who had 17 and 16, respectively. B.B. Brown and Clarissa Chavez led Brownsville Veterans in assists with 33 and 29, respectively, and Krista Lopez led in digs with 33.
Sam Ibarra led the Lady Falcons with 18 kills, and Careveo came in a close second with 16. Peyton Sales led Los Fresnos in assists with 30, and teammate Moya Alejandra added 26 digs.
If each team wins (or loses) its next match, the Lady Chargers and Lady Falcons will share the district championship. Both teams next play at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Brownsville Veterans will travel to Lopez to take on the Lady Lobos, and Los Fresnos will play host to the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles.
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.