HIDALGO — There was a battle of District 32-4A titans on the court Tuesday night as Hidalgo played host to Zapata in a pivotal district matchup. The Pirates entered the match undefeated in district play, while the Hawks had just one loss in 32-4A, which came in five sets at the hands of Hidalgo on Sept. 24.
With the district title on the line, the Pirates again needed five sets to take down the Hawks 23-25, 25-12, 31-29, 18-25, 15-11 to improve to 12-0 in 32-4A action.
Hidalgo head coach Kaydee Benavides said she didn’t harp on remaining unbeaten, but her team played their game and came through with the win.
“I didn’t want to talk too much to them about it, putting that much pressure on them with no losses, because then they start thinking too much. I just told them it was another game. If we play, we’ll be successful,” Benavides said.
The district’s top teams went back-and-forth during the first two sets. Zapata rode a streak of 10 straight points during the opening set as the Hawks held on for a 25-23 win.
During the second, Hidalgo’s Vanessa Espinoza and Priscila Fuentes led the Pirates back to tie the match at 1.
The third set had the entire crowd on its feet as the Hawks looked in control with set point at 24-19. But Hidalgo battled back with six straight points on a kill and a block by Fuentes, a kill from Jackie Garza, an ace off the hand of Ynarra Moya and two hitting errors to tie the set at 25. The Pirates then went on to survive the thrilling third set with a 31-29 victory.
“Coach taught us not to give up and we came out strong and refused to give up. I feel like we were prepared for this,” Espinoza said. “We knew that mental toughness was what it was all about.”
After Zapata fought back to steal the fourth 25-18, it was do-or-die as the two teams battled for district supremacy in a fifth and final set.
The Pirates and Hawks were tied three more times during the fifth, but Hidalgo had too much as middle blocker Melanie Salinas ended the set at 15-11 with a block at the net.
“We needed to prove to everybody that we are the team to beat, and I think we did that,” Fuentes said.
Salinas led the Pirates with 14 kills and six blocks, Fuentes recorded 13 kills, five blocks and five digs, while Espinoza added 11 kills and nine digs of her own.
Hidalgo now has two hurdles left before finishing district play at a perfect 14-0 as the Pirates will face Raymondville and Grulla up next. They can also clinch the 32-4A championship with one more win.
“I want to see us play more aggressive and back to our style, which is killing the ball,” Benavides said.
The loss drops Zapata to 22-14 on the year and 10-2 in District 32-4A.