By ROY HESS/Staff Writer
The Pace Lady Vikings were looking for something to boost their volleyball season and they found it with a come-from-behind, five-set win at Edcouch-Elsa on Saturday.
After losing the first two games, the Lady Vikings showed determination by rallying to prevail 9-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-13 over the always tough Lady Yellowjackets.
“”I believe this win has given us the confidence that we can play with any team no matter what name is on the back of their jersey,” Pace coach Gavin Rudder said. “We have been emphasizing (to our girls) to finish the fight until the very end. They realized that no matter what happens, they have to always compete.
The girls did an amazing job,” he added. “It was a total team effort and the seniors really stepped it up.”
Leading the way for the Lady Vikings were Summer Bohn (nine kills, 15 digs), Amanda Gomez (20 assists, 24 digs) and Ebony Casanova (six aces, 45 digs). Also for Pace, Gaby Olivares and Katia Trevino each had 23 digs.
The victory left Pace tied with Porter and Lopez for fourth place in District 32-5A, all with 2-3 records.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial leads 32-5A at 5-0, while Donna High is second at 4-1 and E-E is third at 3-2. Also, Mercedes is 1-4 and Donna North is 1-4.
The Lady Vikings face another big challenge Tuesday when they play host to Donna High.
ON A ROLL
The Rivera Lady Raiders have moved into sole possession of second place in District 32-6A by winning four straight matches after dropping their conference opener against Hanna on Sept. 10.
Rivera improved to 4-1 in 32-6A with Saturday’s 25-15, 25-10, 25-15 triumph at home against Weslaco East.
Defending conference champion Los Fresnos leads the district at 5-0. After the Lady Falcons, it’s Rivera, Hanna (3-2), San Benito (3-2), Harlingen High (3-2), Weslaco High (1-4), Weslaco East (0-5) and Harlingen South (0-5).
Key 32-6A matches on tap Tuesday have Rivera at Los Fresnos and Harlingen High at Hanna.
“Our girls are doing real well,” Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “Actually, when we started the season, the weakest part of the team was our diggers because they were very young. Most of them were sophomores. Because they played (club ball) all summer long, they’ve picked it up very quickly and they’re playing more as a team (and making our defense stronger).
“I told the girls we have great hitters but that our defense needed work, and they’ve really stepped it up,” the Rivera coach added. “Now we look good all around. The girls are doing an awesome job.”
The Lady Raiders are aware that Los Fresnos poses quite a challenge.
“I told our girls they need to play hard and work as a team,” Avelar-Guerra said. “If you do that, you can be successful. We have to finish strong during the first half of district because everybody’s going to come back strong in the second half. We have to be ready. It’s going to be a fight all the way to the end.”
MILESTONE
St. Joseph Academy will play its first varsity match at 6 p.m. Tuesday at home against Medical Academy at the Middle Division gym. The SJA volleyball program, which began just last school year, is under the direction of coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino, a former coach at Hanna and Los Fresnos.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can rech him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess