FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
DONNA — With what seemed like a flick of the wrist, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks made a complete turn around from Tuesday’s opening day losses and delivered three impressive victories in the Donna Bravette volleyball tournament on Friday.
South head coach Jennifer Taliancich, however, wasn’t surprised by her team’s performance.
“They’ve played together all summer in the summer leagues and they got over the first game jitters, and I’m really happy that they did turn it around,” said Taliancich.
“Basically it was just their focus; their skills are there I just have to keep them focused on the goal they want to attain as individuals and as a team. I noticed that when I do that they focus on playing better as opposed to being scared of making a mistake. I’m just trying to keep them focused on the bigger picture.”
In their first tournament match of the day, the Lady Hawks easily handed Hidalgo a 25-11, 25-10 loss with junior Lexi Kruse getting four kills and four aces. Teammate Christina Montez also contributed four kills.
South’s second matchup was against Mercedes, who handed Harlingen South a loss on Tuesday afternoon in a tri-match along with Edinburg. Friday was a different story, however, as the Lady Hawks returned the favor defeating Mercedes 25-23, and 25-15. Allyson Benavides led the game with three kills and three aces while Kruse contributed three kills and one ace.
The Lady Hawks finished pool play with a 25-19, 25-15 victory over Rio Grand City, winning Pool D and setting them up to face Donna North in a single elimination gold bracket match today at Donna High.
After the game coach Taliancich stressed what she wanted the girls to take away from the tournament.
“I want them to gain some experience so they can be successful not only in this tournament but in the tournaments to come and, more importantly, district,” said Taliancich.
“The girls have been good in practice but we just have to make sure that they keep it up.”