By ROY HESS
Staff Writer
Match by match, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers are tuning up for the upcoming state playoffs in volleyball.
Tuesday’s 28-26, 25-18, 25-23 District 32-5A victory at home against the Porter Cowgirls marked the Lady Chargers’ fifth triumph in a row.
The playoffs start Oct. 29. The Lady Chargers already have clinched a playoff spot.
“It’s been awesome playing on this team at a more advanced level (as a first-year member of the varsity),” said Lady Chargers sophomore setter Daniella Espinosa, who celebrated her 16th birthday Tuesday and received a birthday cake as she and her teammates rejoiced. They were all smiles after the win.
“I come from the JV Dark team, which is not as quick,” Espinosa added. “Playing on the varsity team has been a lot of fun so far, and I don’t want it to end.
“We hope to make it as far as we can in the playoffs. We’re just going to work hard and keep trying our best.”
Brownsville Veterans remained in second place in 32-5A with a 10-2 record and two match dates left. Porter slipped to 4-8 and out of playoff contention.
“Porter definitely came out strong in this match,” Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares said. “Offensively, Porter has some hitters, and defensively, they have some good players, too. They were picking up a lot of balls.
“A lot of times (early during the match), we were just going through the motions,” Mares added. “Then we realized, ‘Oh my, the score is that close.’ We realized that we had to start stepping it up (to win). I reminded the girls that we couldn’t become complacent (and they responded).”
The Lady Chargers found themselves behind by as many as eight points, 14-6, during the first game before they came alive and battled back.
After Porter’s early lead, the opening game was fiercely contested back and forth, and eventually tied at 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 before Porter had a hit go into the net to give the Lady Chargers a one-point edge at 27-26. Brownsville Veterans tallied the next point as well to take the first set 28-26.
The Lady Chargers led the entire way during the second set, although the Cowgirls pulled to within one point two times, 17-16 and 18-17. Brownsville Veterans surged ahead near the end of the second game and won it 25-18 when the Cowgirls hit the ball into the net.
Porter stayed close to the lead during the third game and narrowed the score to 19-18, 20-19, 21-20 and 22-21 before Brownsville Veterans surged ahead again to take the contest.
A block at the net by the Lady Chargers’ Monica Garcia became the final point of the match as Brownsville Veterans took the third game 25-23.
Dominique Mena led the Lady Chargers with 14 kills. Teammate Paula Sanchez had nine kills and 14 digs, and Alex Parchmont contributed 24 digs. Espinosa added 36 assists and 14 digs.
Standout hitters for the Cowgirls included Kladys Sandoval, Micaela Garcia and Ana Meza.