By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Things are coming together quite well for the Pace volleyball team as the Lady Vikings move toward their District 32-5A opener on Sept. 12.
The Lady Vikings improved to 4-5 on the season with a 25-22, 12-25, 25-18, 25-13 victory against Port Isabel on Tuesday.
“We started off kind of slow, even though we won (the first game),” Pace coach Gavin Rudder said. “It carried over into the second game. We finally found out what kind of volleyball we could play, and the last two games went better. If we keep clicking like we were (at the end of the match against Port Isabel), I think we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
The Pace coach said standouts for his team in its win against the Lady Tarpons included senior outside hitters Liana Trevino and Valeria Varela, along with junior libero/defensive specialist Ebony Casanova.
The next action for the Lady Vikings will be at the Sharyland Tournament beginning Thursday in Mission. Pace will be playing in a pool that includes Sharyland High, Los Fresnos and Edinburg Economedes.
This is the final week of tournament play in the Rio Grande Valley.
“We’re finally starting to figure everything out,” Rudder said. “I think we’re going to do well.”
SAD NEWS: Brownsville Veterans Memorial coach Lisa Mares was back coaching the Lady Chargers during Tuesday’s home match against Edcouch-Elsa after being absent from school and coaching due to the Aug. 17 death of her mother, Guadalupe “Lupita” Garcia, who was 56.
Mares said getting back into the routine of school and coaching has helped, but it’s still difficult because her mother enjoyed attending the Lady Chargers’ matches and was always one of her biggest supporters.
“It definitely helps because it keeps me busy, that’s for sure,” Mares said of her return to school. “The sad thing is my mom would come out to all my matches, so not having her here makes it hard, but a lot of the parents have been very supportive. They’re telling me, ‘We’re going to be coming (to the matches), and we’re going to be talking to you afterward.’ My husband is here, so thankfully, I have a lot of support. I’m at a school where people are there for you.”
After a marathon, five-game match Tuesday, the Lady Chargers (10-7) came out on top against the Lady Yellowjackets 26-28, 25-21, 6-25, 25-20, 15-13.
“After a horrendous third game, I’m really proud that our girls came back (and won) in the fourth game,” Mares said. “I was telling them, ‘Don’t (just) show the audience, show yourselves what you can do. Show what you can do and be confident in yourselves.’
“That fifth game was so close, and back and forth and back and forth,” Mares added. “I just said to the girls, ‘Let’s be physically and mentally stronger,’ and that’s what they showed, so I’m happy with that.”
Brownsville Veterans will be playing at the Sharyland Tournament beginning Thursday as well.
STRONG COMPETITION: The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons ran into some pretty tough competition at last weekend’s Northeast ISD Tournament in San Antonio.
They won three matches and lost five at the Alamo City event to come away with a 13-6 season record.
“I felt we played really well, and we learned that when we play our best we can play with any team out of the Valley,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “We held our own against DeSoto, which is from the Dallas area, and they had three (NCAA) Division I recruits.”
During the opening day of the three-day tournament last Thursday, Los Fresnos lost to San Antonio Reagan (25-14, 25-14) and Alamo Heights (26-24, 25-13) prior to defeating Arlington Seguin (25-17, 25-18).
The Lady Falcons split on the second day, losing to Seguin (23-25, 25-15, 25-17) before defeating DeSoto (25-23, 25-20).
On Saturday, the final day, they beat San Antonio Lee (25-20, 25-23), but then lost to San Antonio Incarnate Word (25-20, 25-20) and DeSoto in a rematch (27-25, 25-19).
After playing in the Sharyland Tournament this week, the Lady Falcons will play host to Mission Veterans Memorial, the Valley’s top-ranked team, at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected] . On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.