ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
PORT ISABEL — Some volleyball teams just seem destined to play five-set matches against one another.
The Port Isabel Lady Tarpons and the Progreso Lady Red Ants are two of those teams.
When they played each other a month or so ago in Progreso during the opening round of District 32-4A action, the Lady Red Ants won the first two games and the Lady Tarpons wound up prevailing in the next three games to take the match in five sets.
Just the opposite happened Saturday in the district’s second round at Port Isabel as the Lady Red Ants lost the opening two games decisively before rallying to defeat the Lady Tarpons 13-25, 10-25, 25-15, 25-17, 15-10.
“Yes, our girls definitely came back to life,” Progreso coach Jackie Gonzalez said. “They started off slow, but then again, they always seem to start off slow. I guess it’s nerves at the beginning. Once we’re able to settle down, we’re able to play with anybody.
“I’m very proud of them,” Gonzalez added. “They didn’t give up and they fought the entire way. Hopefully a win like this will encourage our girls and we can finish the regular season strong. We still have hopes for postseason play.”
Despite Saturday’s setback, Port Isabel remains at least tied for third place in 32-4A at 6-6, depending on the result of Zapata’s district match on Saturday. La Feria and Raymondville are the top two teams in 32-4A. Progreso improved to 4-8.
Port Isabel next plays host to Zapata on Tuesday as 32-4A play continues and will attempt to get back on track. Progreso is at home against Grulla the same night.
“We’re just going to get back out there, regroup and go hard on Tuesday against Zapata,” said Lady Tarpons coach Julie Breedlove, who is trying to guide her squad back to the playoffs after a one-year’s absence. “We just need to come back, refocus and finish off strong (in district).
“We knew Progreso was going to come over here and give us a very good match — they always do,” Breedlove added. “We came out and played really hard in the first two sets, but we’ve just got to be more consistent. We made too many errors — service reception errors and hitting errors, especially in the third set (in a 25-15 loss).
“We knew Progreso was going to come out and play with everything they’ve got and then we didn’t capitalize on some things (when we were up 2-0 after the first two games), so we’ve just got to refocus now.”
The Lady Tarpons were cruising early with a 16-0 lead in the first game before winning it 25-13. They broke open the next game and led 21-9 after winning six straight points, including four of the six points on service aces by Carolina Guevara, en route to taking the second set 25-10.
From there, the Lady Reds Ants came alive, played with more composure and team chemistry and dominated the third game in winning 25-15. The Lady Tarpons again fell behind in the fourth game and pulled to within 14-12 of the lead but came no closer as the Lady Reds Ants triumphed 25-17.
Once in the fifth set, Progreso broke out of a 3-3 tie to go up 12-6. Moments later, a block by Progreso’s Kim Perez put her team ahead 14-10, and when the Lady Tarpons hit into the net on the next point, the Lady Red Ants won 15-10 to capture the five-game match.
Olivia Soliz, a senior middle blocker, was a standout for the Lady Tarpons with double-digit kills.