By ROY HESS /Staff Writer
The Porter Cowgirls have a little winning streak going in District 32-5A volleyball.
Coming off a victory in four games against Pace last Tuesday, the Cowgirls followed it up with Saturday’s 26-24, 25-23, 28-26 triumph against Donna North.
Porter takes a 2-1 district record into its next match Tuesday at Donna High, which is also 2-1.
Against Donna North, the Cowgirls were without two of their main starters, both seniors. It meant other girls had to play out of position, including sophomore Rachel Reyes, typically a back row player who was called upon to move up front as an outside hitter.
“Rachel is 5-foot-nothing and she was out of position,” Porter coach Ariel Arredondo said. “She walked away with some smart kills (to help us win).
“My entire team rallied together to dominate as a whole to take that win from Donna North,” Arredondo added. “We were able to stay in the match through the leadership of my senior Valerie Jimenez, who played out of position as well to fill a needed spot, and my sophomore setter Brigitte Ortiz. Also, we wouldn’t have been able to stay in any of our long rallies without my sophomore libero, April Reyes, who is Rachel’s twin.”
Arredondo said after Porter defeated Pace last week she believed the win would give her team confidence to go out and capture additional victories, and the Cowgirls proved her words true with their performance Saturday.
In other 32-5A matches Saturday, Brownsville Veterans Memorial edged Edcouch-Elsa 25-21, 27-25, 23-25, 29-27; Mercedes downed Pace 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 17-25, 15-10; and Donna High defeated Lopez 25-20, 25-16, 25-12.
Besides Porter at Donna High on Tuesday, it’s Donna North at Pace, Lopez at Brownsville Veterans and E-E at Mercedes.
Brownsville Veterans leads 32-5A at 3-0, while Porter, E-E and Donna High are all 2-1. Also, it’s Lopez 1-1, Mercedes 1-2, Donna North 0-2 and Pace 0-3.
ALONE AT THE TOP
Brownsville Veterans put itself all alone atop the 32-5A standings thanks to Saturday’s important win at E-E.
It’s still very early in the district race, so the Lady Chargers aren’t getting too excited just yet, but it still feels good to be 3-0.
“We have to just keep going at it because everyone is going to play hard against us,” Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares said. “It’s a little scary being up there at 3-0 because it means more pressure, but it’s OK. We just have to keep going (and play well).”
The Lady Chargers have some multi-sport athletes. Among them are Paola Villarreal and Lizbeth Aguillon. They ran cross country at a meet in Corpus Christi on Saturday morning and made it back to the Valley that afternoon in time to play volleyball at E-E and help the Lady Chargers win.
DISTRICT 32-6A
Hanna and Los Fresnos are co-leaders at 3-0 in District 32-6A. The Lady Falcons, defending district champions, play host to Hanna at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a match to determine which team will have sole possession of the 32-6A lead.
After three matches in 32-6A, Los Fresnos and Hanna are atop the standings at 3-0, while Rivera and Harlingen High are 2-1, San Benito and Weslaco High are 1-2, and Harlingen South and Weslaco East are 0-3.
Other matches Tuesday in 32-6A find Weslaco High at Rivera, San Benito at Harlingen South and Harlingen High at Weslaco High.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess