By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
LOS FRESNOS — When the Los Fresnos volleyball team comes out playing at the top of its game, it’s very difficult to beat the Lady Falcons.
That’s the way Los Fresnos started off Tuesday’s District 32-6A match at home against San Benito as, after dominating the opening game, the Lady Falcons stayed just barely ahead most of the way thereafter en route to capturing a 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 victory.
“I liked how we came out and played in the first game — we were on fire,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “We need to play like that every time.
“I told our girls, ‘Let them earn the points they make. Let’s not give them points off our mistakes,’” Woods added. “I give my girls credit. We were down four points (9-5) in the second game and five points (twice) in the third game (9-4 and 10-5), and point by point, we came back. We let San Benito make the mistakes.”
Los Fresnos remained in second place in 32-6A with a 7-1 record as the second round of district action began Tuesday. The Lady Greyhounds slipped into a tie for third place in 32-6A with a 5-3 mark, the same record as Harlingen High, which downed Harlingen South 25-22, 26-24, 25-20.
Rivera defeated Hanna 25-14, 25-18, 25-18 to stay in the 32-6A lead at 8-0.
The Lady Falcons came up with a strong match against a talented opponent to stay within striking distance of Rivera in the standings.
“San Benito is a good team,” Woods said. “They hung in there with us every game. They are tough against anybody they play.
“They’ve got good hitters, good blockers, good serving, their tipping is great and they know where to place the ball,” Woods added. “I told my girls, ‘You’ve got to be on your horse (and play well) tonight because they’re going to come after you,’ and they did.”
After dominating the first game and winning 25-15, the Lady Falcons found themselves in a tough battle in the second set as the score was tied 12 times. The last deadlock came at 22-22 before the Lady Falcons closed out the game 25-22 on an ace, a tip and a kill by Kaitlan Mata.
The third set was another tight battle with seven ties and the Lady Greyhounds leading by five points twice, 9-4 and 10-5. But after the third game was knotted for the final time at 20-20, the Lady Falcons went ahead 21-20 and 22-21.
Then, a pair of hitting errors by the Lady Greyhounds — a serve into the net and a volley that sailed long — allowed the Lady Falcons to go up 24-21. From there, a strong hit from the left side by Los Fresnos’ Giselle Ibarra went off a San Benito player, hit the ceiling and fell into the San Benito court to close out the match.
San Benito coach Ruby Medina was somewhat disappointed with her team after Tuesday’s showing.
“We just couldn’t get going in the first game,” the Lady Greyhounds coach said. “We had a slow start and the hitting wasn’t there, the passing wasn’t there and the sets weren’t there. The second game we started playing a little better. We had the lead, but then it got away from us. I told the girls we can’t be like a roller coaster and be up and down. We just have to (play consistently and) finish it.
“Los Fresnos is a good team, but we’re also a good team,” she added. “Personally, I didn’t feel we played to our full potential tonight. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
Ibarra led Los Fresnos with 16 kills and 15 digs. Also contributing to the win for the Lady Falcons were Sarah Villarreal (17 assists, 12 digs), Emma Stambaugh (eight kills), Natalie Leal (15 assists, seven digs), Isis Delgado (40 digs, 24 service receptions) and Alex Garcia (nine digs, 10 service receptions).
Crystal Ibarra was a standout for the Lady Greyhounds with 10 kills, 10 digs and two blocks. Other standouts for San Benito included Kayleen Reyes (five kills, 10 assists, two blocks), Alysa Naranjo (seven kills, three blocks), Arlene Lucero (four kills, four blocks) and Sarah Garcia (35 digs).
District play continues for both teams on Saturday as Weslaco East is at San Benito at noon and Los Fresnos is at Harlingen South at 3 p.m.