LA FERIA — On a night that could’ve seen La Feria clinch its second straight District 32-4A title on its home court, it was Rio Hondo doing all the celebrating.
The Lady Cats handed the Lionettes their first district loss in thrilling fashion, overcoming a two-set deficit hole to take the match in five, 16-25, 5-25, 25-14, 28-26, 16-14.
“I just reminded them that they had it in them,” Karen Ramirez said. “We’ve been working so hard throughout the year and I just reminded them of all the hard work they’ve done up to this point.”
Neither team played particularly well to start the match, but La Feria turned things around behind its strong hitters and a solid block to cruise to a two-set advantage.
The Lady Cats’ offense couldn’t get anything going due to poor timing between the setters and hitters, and defensively they were caught on their heels and not passing accurately.
But something shifted prior to the third set. Ramirez silenced the gym when she shouted in the huddle, but her tough love was just the spark the Lady Cats needed.
Rio Hondo played incredibly hard the remainder of the match. The Lionettes leaned on the heavy arms of hitters Myah Salas and Sierra Salinas, but Lady Cats senior libero Kamryn Flores led her defense to get under almost every ball sent their way. With its hitters struggling, Rio Hondo relied on the tip game and successfully found holes in La Feria’s defense to register points.
“A tip that falls is as good as a kill, so we just reminded them to play smart,” Ramirez said.
Trailing late in the fourth set, La Feria made a surge led by Salinas and fought through six set points to earn two match points of its own, but a tip by Rio Hondo’s Victoria Vasquez found the floor to force a fifth set.
La Feria held the lead for much of the deciding round, but Ramirez used her timeouts perfectly to break up the momentum and reset her team. When the final whistle blew, it was the underdogs in black and gold who had clinched the big win.
“To get this win, it’s amazing,” Flores said. “This game was for the seniors… and we made it a night to remember. It was a huge blessing to us because we work hard every single day.”
Despite the loss, the Lionettes can still grab the outright district title with a win at Raymondville next Monday.