BY JOSHUA MCKINNEY, Staff Writer
Hanna faced all the resistance Lopez could manage, but the home team held out in the end.
The Hanna Lady Golden Eagles defeated the Lopez Lady Lobos in a non-district match, 25-14, 27-25, 23-25, 25-14 on Tuesday at Hanna.
“(We had) ups and downs,” Hanna head coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “Game 1 and 4 we had strong moments. The rest were a little bit shaky tonight, but it also had to do with an injury-related line-up change we had to do.”
Libero Melina Morales went down in the third set, causing Hanna to mix and match the personnel on the court.
“We wouldn’t really adjust to the game,” Hagemann said. “We tried, and they did. Unfortunately, Lopez had a strong moment. They did an awesome job of putting pressure on us.”
Lopez battled back to win the third set and held the momentum heading into the fourth, sporting a 12-4 lead.
Back-to-back kills by Xitlali Montes de Oca started a 10-point streak that gave the Lady Eagles the edge at 14-12.
Yazmin Martinez had a tip to end the surge but Lopez’s intensity wasn’t there, and Hanna responded with an 11-1 run to end the match.
“I think that’s what killed us,” Lopez head coach Jacquelynn Touchet said. “I think that fourth set we kind of hit a slump and they didn’t come back out fast enough. I think that’s something we need to consider heading into the district season. We can’t let that happen.”
The Lady Eagles were in control in the first set, getting nine kills and four aces to keep the Lady Lobos’ defense off balanced.
The teams battled tightly in the second and traded leads throughout the set.
Lopez had a chance to put the set away twice, but an unforced error and a kill by Alexa Herrera kept Hanna in it.
Halle Penrod had eight kills to lead Hanna. Elyani Perez had 18 assists, and Ryan Wood had four kills and three aces.
Kassandra Alaniz had seven kills and Carla Lopez had six to spearhead Lopez’s attack. Noemi Gallardo had 17 assists and two aces.
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.