By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — A fire alarm signaled the beginning of the 2018 volleyball regular season Tuesday at Los Fresnos High School.
Before the Lady Falcons and Sharyland High Lady Rattlers could play their non-district varsity match in the gym at noon, an alarm sounded, lights flashed and everyone was quickly escorted outside to the sun-baked parking lot while school officials checked out the source of the problem.
After no more than five minutes, the crowd in the parking lot gladly filed back into the air-conditioned gym and the match soon began without further incident.
It was a matchup between two teams that figure to be in the thick of the playoff races in their respective districts — Los Fresnos in District 32-6A and Sharyland High in District 31-5A.
On this particular day, it was Los Fresnos playing at a higher level by displaying more chemistry with fewer mistakes as the Lady Falcons triumphed in a sweep 25-15, 25-17, 25-19.
“ I felt it was good for our first match together this season,” said Los Fresnos’ Kaitlyn Mata, a senior and three-year member of the varsity. “I think when you start a season with two pretty decent teams playing each other, you’re going to have a little bit of competition between them before one of them breaks away. We managed things well. Going point by point in the beginning is kind of expected (like we did). It’s good that one team could come together and just pull ahead, and we did.”
The Lady Falcons and Lady Rattlers traded points back and forth in the first game as there were 11 ties with the last tie being 15-15. Los Fresnos went up for good in the first game, 16-15, when the Lady Rattlers hit the ball out on a volley.
The Lady Falcons reeled off 10 straight points to win the opening game handily 25-15.
Los Fresnos never trailed in the second game en route to taking a 2-0 edge in the match. The Lady Falcons led by as many as 11 points twice, 20-9 and 21-10. A kill by Los Fresnos’ Sandra Salazar made it 21-10. A block by Victoria Hernandez allowed the Lady Falcons to win the second game 25-17.
“ I think communication and teamwork helped us out a lot because there were a few things that didn’t go right and we could have fixed them,” said Salazar, also a senior and three-year member of the varsity. “Overall, I think we just pulled together. We had an injury (to setter Sarah Villarreal in the third game) and the one (Elizabeth Vasquez) who came in off the bench for her did pretty well, so that was very helpful.
“ I’m just really proud of my team,” Salazar added. “Everyone did a good job, even the younger ones.”
The third game was a close battle and a lot like the first set as there were 16 ties. The final deadlock came at 18-18, and from there, Los Fresnos surged ahead again at the end, outscoring the visitors by tallying seven of the last eight points to win 25-19 and sweep the match.
A cross-court kill by Tate Halford accounted for the final point to help the Lady Falcons prevail.
“ We went point for point with Sharyland for a long time and I just told the girls they needed to break away,” said Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods, now in her 34th season of guiding the Lady Falcons. “Once we broke away, we settled down and started playing our game.
“ Sharyland has some good hitters and we weren’t getting to the blocks like we should have been,” Woods added. “We need to get in position to make the blocks against the other team’s big girls. Otherwise, though, we did well. Winning in three games is always good.”
The Lady Rattlers have a tall player in Estefania Hinojosa who can consistently make things happen on the court. She finished with 17 kills and seven stuff-blocks. Teammate Tristen Maddox added 12 kills and five stuff-blocks.
Los Fresnos’ stats weren’t immediately available. Top hitters for the Lady Falcons included Emma Stambaugh, Mata and Hernandez.
Villarreal injured an ankle with the score tied 16-16 in the third game and is expected to be out approximately two weeks.
Both teams are next scheduled to play in the Poundfest Tournament in McAllen beginning Thursday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess