Both squads entered the match in desperate need of a District 32-6A win as both were winless in league play at 0-2.
The Lady Greyhounds started strong, faltered a bit at one point, but in the end walked away with a big 25-10, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20 win.
“We sure didn’t want to come out of this thing 0-3 because that’s a tough hole to work out of,” said Lady Greyhounds head coach Ruby Medina. “I’m real proud of the way the girls stepped up today. They played well and never lost their focus.”
The Lady ’Hounds were led by Monica Garcia, who finished the match with 11 kills and 12 blocks; Claire Gomez, who had 25 assists and four aces; and Kayleen Reyes, who had eight kills.
In Game 1, the Lady ’Hounds (5-10 overall) came out on fire and cruised to a relatively easy 25-10 win. The Lady Cardinals (0-3 in district) had several miscues and simply couldn’t find their rhythm during the game.
That changed in Game 2, however, as the Lady Cards regrouped and battled in a very tightly contested set.
Unfortunately for the Lady Red Birds, the Lady ’Hounds had just enough to hold off their determined opponent and won the second game 27-25.
To the Lady Cards’ credit, they did not back down after finding themselves in an 0-2 hole. Rather, they picked up a shovel and began in earnest to dig themselves out.
In Game 3, the Lady ’Hounds quickly took an 8-3 lead behind some strong play by Claire Gomez. But the Lady Cardinals countered with Addison Dickey, who came up with some huge shots to help her team battle back and take a 15-12 advantage.
The game continued to seesaw for a while until the Lady Cards finally dug, dinked and fought their way to a 25-22 win to stave off elimination for a bit.
“We got pretty nervous after they won that game,” said Media about the Lady Cards’ Game 3 win. “We really didn’t want them to battle back and tie the match because you don’t want to force a Game 5 because in a fifth game you never know what can happen.”
In Game 4, the Lady Cardinals continued to give it their all and actually took a 10-6 lead at one point. Dickey continued to impress as she was deadly from the right wing.
However, the Lady ’Hounds managed to neutralize Dickey and rallied back to eventually tie things up at 14-14 and then push for the eventual 25-20 win that gave them the match.
“We proved today that we are mentally tough when we need to be,” Media said.
Up next for the Lady ’Hounds is a Tuesday night home match against Brownsville Veterans. Meanwhile, the Lady Cards will host Los Fresnos.