By Adam Kujawski, Staff Writer
The injury bug has bitten the Lady Raiders this season and has forced head coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra to approach the season differently than she expected.
Two senior starters, Amanda Perez and Jahzeel Zaragoza, have been sidelined for the entire season. Perez, a top defensive player, dislocated her wrist and Zaragoza, a middle blocker and starting setter, suffered a torn ACL. Both girls will miss the entirety of the season.
Kassandra Garcia, a junior left-side hitter is also on the bench dealing with a concussion.
The goals of the season have changed for Rivera. Typically a contender for the postseason, Avelar-Guerra expected her team to compete for a top spot in the playoffs.
“Our goal is always to win district, but I know that’s a tough one,” she said. “At the beginning, our goal was to try to get third or fourth place in the playoffs, maybe sneak in and get a second.”
Given the circumstances, though, her outlook on the season has changed.
“Now, we’re going to just try to win some games,” she said. “Maybe if we can improve enough by midseason, we can sneak into that last playoff spot.”
EYEING THE POSTSEASON
Making the postseason is a goal all teams can relate to, but for Porter, it’s something that hasn’t come to fruition very often.
Head coach Laura Fortner thinks this team has what it takes to end the draught. Lately, she has been impressed with strong outside hitting from Sabrina Garcia and Danielle Sanchez, and hopes increasing pressure throughout a match will propel this team toward a strong regular season.
“We haven’t made the playoffs in a long time,” Fortner said. “I don’t know how long it’s been but we’ve only made it once in school history. I think if a group of girls is going to do it, it will be this one.”
NEW & OLD
The Lady Vikings are playing this season in District 32-5A against new opponents, but coach Gavin Rudder has made his expectations clear.
“The goal this year is to win the championship in a new district,” he said. “We’ve only seen a few teams (from District 32-5A) so far, but it’s a tough district. It’s not going to be a walk in the park.”
Rudder has been impressed with his team’s toughness in close games and thinks it’s on track to be competitive this season.
“We’ve shown a lot of fight and determination,” he said. “We’ve had to come back in a couple games lately.
“The middle blockers have been doing great. Everybody’s been doing their jobs and we really only have some minor adjustments moving forward.”
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.