DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer
LA FERIA — On one of the far ends of the La Feria High School gymnasium hangs a poster that reads, “Hustle, hit, never quit!”
The La Feria Lionettes must have that poster tattooed on their brains because in a District 32-4A volleyball match against Zapata on Tuesday, the home squad continually hustled, hit and never did quit.
Unfortunately, Zapata did just a little bit more hustling, hitting and also did not want to surrender as the Lady Hawks walked away with a hard-fought 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18 win.
With the victory the Lady Hawks improved to 6-0 in league play while the Lionettes fell to 5-1.
“We were just a little bit too inconsistent, especially on our serves,” said La Feria head coach Rebea Fraga. “Meanwhile they (Zapata) were more consistent and just did a little bit more in the end.
“After the match, I told the girls that we need to be able to come back from this and pull ourselves back up so that hopefully we can win out and still grab a share of the district title.”
The Lionettes had trouble handling the Lady Hawks’ offense led by Alexis Alvarez and Tere Villarreal. Alvarez finished with 13 kills, four blocks, seven digs and one assist, while Villarreal had 12 kills, four blocks, 16 digs and three key aces.
But the Lionettes did indeed try with all their might to stop Alvarez and Villarreal. Several times during the match, thundering shots by the Zapata duo were miraculously saved by the La Feria defense and turned into points for the home team.
The Lionettes were led defensively by Laura Torres, who had 15 digs, and Annette Ruiz, who had 16. The offense, meanwhile, was spurred by Belisa Vela, who had 15 kills, Sara Alvarado, who had eight kills, and Ruiz, who finished with 31 assists.
In Game 1, both teams played well as the set remained tight throughout until the Lady Hawks finally broke through late and put it away 25-20.
La Feria came out in Game 2 determined to fight, and battled back and fourth using several finesse shots to fool Zapata’s defense. It worked and the Lionettes tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second-set win.
“I was happy with the way the girls did not give up after dropping the first game. They did a good job of staying competitive,” said Fraga.
But in games 3 and 4, the Lady Hawks were too much for the Lionettes as they won a highly competitive third set and then finished things off in the fourth stanza.
“We’re lucky to get out of here with the win,” said Zapata head coach Rosie Villarreal. “Every time we play La Feria, we know we are going to get a tough match. Today was no different so we’re thrilled to be going home still perfect in district.”
NOTE: La Feria will play its next match on Friday at Port Isabel instead of Saturday due to school testing.