By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
PHARR — There was a little drama early, but Pace began to cruise starting in the second game as the Lady Vikings swept a District 32-5A volleyball match against PSJA Southwest on Tuesday to earn their first trip to the playoffs since 2010.
Pace (12-15, 7-7 district) won 27-25, 25-9, 25-16 at the Lady Javelinas’ gym to claim the fourth-place postseason berth from 32-5A.
“This is amazing,” said Pace’s Jessica Aguilar, a senior setter/outside hitter. “We’ve worked hard for this since (the first day of workouts) Aug. 3. We knew we were going to have a tough season, but we pushed through and made it (to the playoffs). It just feels amazing.”
PSJA Southwest (13-22, 3-11), observing parents night, came out fired up and played on even terms with the Lady Vikings from the very start.
There were 10 ties during the opening game, including deadlocks at 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25. On the final point of the first game, there was a question about a Pace serve that appeared to go long with the Lady Vikings up 26-25. The point was replayed, and a hitting error by the Lady Javelinas enabled Pace to win 27-25.
“I think we probably made every error that you could have thought of in that first game, but luckily we recovered and somehow came out on top,” Pace coach Gavin Rudder said.
He added, “(After the first game,) I looked at our seniors and said, ‘This could be your last match. Do you want it to be your last match, or do you want to keep playing?’ I thought our seniors were the ones who really needed to step up, just mentally and realize what they needed to do, and they did.”
The Lady Javelinas led by as many as six points twice, 11-5 and 12-6, during the first game before Pace fought back.
The Lady Vikings surged to leads of 15-5 in the second game and 13-5 during the third set to leave leave little doubt about the outcome.
Ebony Casanova, Pace’s junior libero, served an ace to close out the second game 25-9. She served up another ace to win the third game 25-16 and give her team a sweep of the match.
“Making the playoffs is really satisfying because it was our team goal,” Casanova said. “It’s awesome.
“We started off slow tonight, but we ended up coming back and winning (handily),” she added. “We needed to get back on track after that first game.”