By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The “Battle of Southmost” volleyball match Saturday at Porter belonged to the Lopez Lady Lobos.
The Cowgirls made it quite a challenge, but in the end, the Lady Lobos won the closely contested District 32-5A match 25-20, 25-22, 25-22.
The victory kept Lopez (6-5) on course for one of the four playoff spots available in 32-5A with three match dates remaining.
Edcouch-Elsa leads the district at 11-0. Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Donna High come next at 9-2 and 8-3, respectively. The closest teams behind fourth-place Lopez are Mercedes and Porter, each with 4-7 records.
Lopez’s Kat Barrientes, a junior outside hitter, believes her team is headed in the right direction regarding the postseason.
“We have a lot of potential (to go to the playoffs),” Barrientes said. “We get blocks, we get hits, we get digs, and we can do everything. This is one of the greatest teams I’ve played on.”
The Lady Lobos were coming off Tuesday’s 25-17, 25-15, 20-25, 25-22 loss at home against Pace. There was a feeling on the Lopez team that it wasn’t about to let Saturday’s match against Porter become another setback.
“We deserved to win this match (against Porter),” Barrientes said. “We worked very hard (in practice) this week, and we deserved it. It was a great win.
“It means a lot to us (to qualify for the playoffs a third straight year if we can),” Barrientes added. “I’ve been on the team for two years, and it’s great. I love this team and that we’re always together. It’s great (knowing we’re so close to the playoffs again). We have great people, and they mean a lot to me.”
There were six ties during the opening game Saturday, with the last of them coming at 19. From there, the Lady Lobos tallied six of the next seven points and won the first set 25-20 thanks to a down-the-line kill by Aileen Aguilar.
Lopez surged to leads of 6-1 and 13-6 during the second game and never trailed, although Porter pulled to within 20-19 and 23-22. A close call the Cowgirls thought should have tied the game at 23 instead was ruled as a Lopez hit that went off a Porter player to make it 24-22. A Porter hit that went long enabled Lopez to win the second set 25-22.
There were eight ties during the third game. The last one came at 22 when Porter’s Brigitte Ortiz served an ace. However, the Lady Lobos scored the next three points to win the match.
A Porter hit that carried out of bounds and a ball that dropped in near the net on the Cowgirls’ side made it 24-22. Lopez’s Amanda Parra then unleashed a monster kill to win the third game 25-22 and end the match in a sweep.
Lady Lobos coach Daya Venegas said her team was motivated by Tuesday’s loss to Pace.
“It feels good to get this win,” Venegas said. “I’m always proud of our girls’ hard work. They always work hard. We got that loss against Pace, and we were practicing (with determination) to win this one. Pace played good against us, and after that loss, it kind of helped us (focus) to get better. We may have been overconfident against Pace. That loss helped us for this match.
“The girls played with a lot of heart against Porter,” Venegas added. “They were everywhere on the floor and picking up everything. I’m just proud of the girls, proud to be at Lopez, and proud to keep the program going the way Coach (Jacquelynn) Touchet (now the assistant coach) started it.”
Lopez’s next match will be Tuesday at home against Donna High. Porter next plays Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.