NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — The Mission Veterans volleyball team has high late-season goals. Seniors Jackie Howell and Makenzie Gerlach want to be the only group to not just win four straight district titles, but do so without the blemish of a district loss.
The Patriots are planning to reach that goal by competing hard against every non-district opponent leading up to 31-5A play, no matter if it is a bigger school from a higher classification.
So far, so good for Mission Veterans, which improved to 13-3 overall on the season after a 25-12, 25-13 win over Laredo United South on Saturday in the Mission Tournament championship. The Patriots didn’t drop a set in the tournament.
Howell and Gerlach shared tournament MVP honors after making quick work of the tournament final. Howell led the team with 12 kills, two aces and six digs.
Gerlach had four kills and four digs in the final.
In their first tournament, last weekend in Pearland, the Patriots defeated schools like San Antonio Brennan, George Ranch and Friendswood, twice. Many of the matches in Pearland were against 6A schools from major metropolitan hubs.
“It’s good to build confidence, because when we play somebody like George Ranch, they have three commits to Baylor. And when you’re playing them and can beat them, it really shows what you’re capable of and what your team is capable of,” Gerlach said after Saturday’s match. “When you go up there… everybody is just tall and quick. It doesn’t matter (who it is). But when you can beat them and show them who you are, when you’re 5-6 to 5-8, it’s really nice.”
After Howell and Gerlach, Kassy Lerma has been a solid third offensive option and has made teams pay when they are tentative toward a ball that is hovering above the net.
Lerma collected seven kills, three digs and two blocks. During Saturday’s final, she had an extra pair of eyes on her, because someone in the crowd was holding a larger-than-life cardboard cutout of her head. The junior said the large image of her own face worked as a bit of motivation.
“We bought it last year. We never used it, so I was like, ‘Just bring it,’” she said with a chuckle after the final. “Every time I saw it, I was like, ‘Come on, hit it.’”
Lerma says she’s happy to be in the same conversation as the team’s senior leaders.
“It feels really good,” Lerma said. “It’s nice to know that they think I’m one of them. But really, it’s all of us. It feels nice. All of us, every single play we go way back. We all started club ball together, we’ve had heartbreaks together. We’re sisters.”
The Patriots have a way of keeping a light attitude on the court even as they elevate their play to become the top volleyball team in the area.
“It’s the key. It’s not really playing if you’re not having fun,” Gerlach said. “We go places when we’re having fun. When we’re mad and we get down on ourselves, we stay. We plateau and stop. When we’re having fun, it doesn’t matter if we’re losing. There’s always a way to come back.”
Valeria de la Fuente led the Patriots in assists with 15 and also helped the team to four straight points off her serve during the first set.
Mission Veterans head coach and Kassy’s mother Diana Lerma said tough early competition can help the group earn respect and reach its ultimate goals.
“We’ve had girls in the past that have had four district titles, but not undefeated ones,” Diana Lerma said. “Down here, we call ourselves the ‘it’ team, because we’ve been a powerhouse in the 5A for many years. La mera papa, the powerhouse. Then, we go over there, to Pearland and they rank us 74 of 75 teams. We were known as “that” team. You lost to that team?”