A seemingly unshakable pattern continues for the Hanna volleyball team.
Another relatively slow start, followed by another strong finish.
The Lady Golden Eagles played a non-district match at Lopez on Tuesday, and just like a number of their previous outings so far this season, they dropped the opening game before coming back with a more determined effort to capture a 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-14 victory against the Lady Lobos.
“Unfortunately, that pattern is still in effect,” said Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann, whose squad plays in District 32-6A. “But in this match, I have to hand it to Lopez. It’s not that we didn’t come out to play, it’s that Lopez played very strong during the first game.
“I think we’ll be hearing good things about Lopez in District 32-5A this season,” Hagemann added. “The way they played in this match, I think they’re going to be very competitive in their district if they maintain their play like they did against us to start out.”
Added Hanna’s Melina Morales, a senior defensive specialist/libero, “It feels very good to get this win. We started off slow, but we found our chemistry and came together as a team. It’s good to win, especially since District (32-6A) starts next week. We’re trying to practice hard and focus so we can be ready for district.”
In the opening set, Lopez was up by as many as 11 points, 21-10, before Hanna battled back to close the gap to 25-19 by the end of the game.
The second game was the closest and it featured 10 ties, the last of which was 23-23. From there, a kill by Hanna’s Ariana Arceneaux and an ace by teammate Xitlali Montes de Oca accounted for the final two points in giving the Lady Eagles the 25-23 Game 2 triumph.
Other than a 1-1 deadlock, the Lady Eagles led the entire way in the third game. Three straight aces by Montes de Oca gave Hanna an early boost and made the score 9-4. It set the pace as Hanna remained in the lead and held off the Lady Lobos even when they pulled to within 12-11, 15-14 and 18-17 but came no closer. Hanna took the third game 25-18.
The Lady Lobos were ahead 6-0 in the fourth set before Hanna battled back again. The Lady Lobos hit the ball out of bounds on a volley and fell behind for good 10-9 as the Lady Eagles surged to a 25-14 victory to capture the match.
Lopez coach Jackie Touchet was a little disappointed that her team didn’t maintain its successful showing all the way through the match. Still, she said it was a valuable experience to go against a solid team such as Hanna, especially with 32-5A action soon approaching.
“This definitely helped us and it helped that we were going against a competitive opponent,” Touchet said. “It’s not so much about winning right now. It’s more about finding out what we need to tweak before district comes around.
“We’ve already made a lot of progress in the past month that we’ve been in our preseason,” she added. “This match was kind of good to see where we’re at and see what else needs to be tweaked.”
Leading the way for the Lady Eagles were Arceneaux (seven kills, one block), Montes de Oca (seven kills, four aces), Ryann Wood (six kills, two blocks), Tabitha Fernandez (18 digs, seven assists), Isabella Tatum (12 digs), Morales (11 digs), Salone McManus (11 digs) and Elyani Perez (nine assists).
Players active at the net for the Lady Lobos included Georgina Fraga, Carla Lopez and Jennifer Cisneros. Also a standout for Lopez was setter Noemi Gallardo.
Hanna continues non-district play at home at 6 p.m. Friday against Brownsville Veterans Memorial, while Lopez next plays a non-district match at La Feria at 1 p.m. Saturday.