DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — Vicious spikes, pinpoint kill shots, savvy passing and rock-solid defense were all used by the Lady Greyhounds in a 3-0 non-district volleyball sweep over PSJA High on Tuesday.
Led by a solid front at the net, the Lady ’Hounds made short work of the Lady Bears 25-19, 25-17 and 25-15 to improve to an impressive 8-2 on the season.
San Benito came into Tuesday’s contest having won the Silver Bracket championship at this past weekend’s Sharyland ISD Invitational. Prior to that, the squad came in fourth at the Mission ISD Tournament.
However, despite the smooth victory against PSJA, head coach Ruby Medina was not fully pleased with her squad.
“I know they can play better,” she said. “I’m happy because we won, but the score should have been a whole lot better.”
The Lady ’Hounds jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 and even though PSJA attempted a comeback, never really had trouble as the rowdy home crowd shouted their appreciation as the teams switched sides.
In the second set, it was the Lady Bears that came out strong as they took an early lead behind some strong net play as well as a few missed hits and service errors by the Lady ’Hounds.
“To be honest, we play better against teams that hit harder. They (PSJA) are not a bad team, but they play a totally different tempo compared to what we’re used to so it threw us off for a bit,” Medina said.
After a timeout, the Lady ’Hounds adjusted and began to make their comeback as they tied the game at 12-12 then proceeded to pull away for the Game 2 win.
With momentum fully on their side and the San Benito crowd in full volume, the Lady ’Hounds came out in Game 3 and rushed out to a 5-0 lead thanks to some strong hitting up front by Crystal Ibarra.
PSJA fought back behind powerful shots by Myranda Garza and nice serving by Ashley Lopez. However, San Benito was too much as Ibarra continued to pound away at the net along with Alysa Naranjo and Arlene Lucero.
Up next for the Lady ’Hounds is another non-district match at McAllen High next Tuesday before District 32-6A play begins on Sept. 10 at Los Fresnos.
“Hopefully we’ll be ready for Los Fresnos,” Medina said. “They are a good team, but I think whoever shows up will win the game.”