ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The first District 32-5A volleyball match of the season between “Battle of Southmost” rivals Porter and Lopez was won by the Cowgirls.
The Cowgirls prevailed 22-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-9 on Tuesday at the Porter gym.
The victory improved the Cowgirls to 2-2 in district. The Lady Lobos slipped to 1-3.
“We were able to pull it off and get the win,” said Azaneth Perez, a junior all-around player for Porter. “We didn’t focus too much on our mistakes (tonight), and we’ll keep on focusing on the positives (in the future) in what we do.
“We’re pretty confident for the playoffs this year,” Perez added. “We hustle in practice and in the games. We always have each other’s backs. We played a really good match tonight.”
Porter coach Tiffany Capistran was in full agreement with Perez, one of the team’s standout hitters.
“Honestly, this is the best the girls have played in district, so to see them play at the level of our competition (or better) is the best thing a coach can ever see,” Capistran said. “I’m happy with that. It feels great.
“Making the playoffs is our goal,” she added. “It feels great to see a 2-2 district record on paper. Tonight our girls had energy, they were communicating, they were playing like a team, and that was the best thing of all.”
There was only one tie during the opening game, and it came at 20 as Lopez led pretty much the entire way. The Lady Lobos surged ahead 24-20 and eventually won the first set 25-22 when Porter made a block that carried out.
The Cowgirls led by as many as seven points, 18-11, during the second game before the Lady Lobos came back to narrow it to two points twice, 20-18 and 22-20, and then to one, 22-21, before the Cowgirls won the second set 25-21 on a kill by Katherine Salas.
The Porter girls were not to be denied during the final two games, as they won 25-13 and then 25-9 to take the match 3-1.
Stat leaders for the Cowgirls were Perez (10 kills, 10 digs, six aces), Salas (17 kills, 14 digs, two aces), Anahi Villarreal (eight kills, three assists, four digs), Brianna Franco (one kill, six blocks), Mickey Garcia (eight kills, five blocks), Angela Vallejo (two aces, 12 digs) and Ashley Pena (44 assists).
Porter next plays Saturday at Brownsville Veterans Memorial. Donna High is at Lopez the same day for the Lady Lobos’ next match.
Tuesday’s Brownsville-area Scores
District 32-6A
Harlingen High def. Brownsville Hanna 17-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-7
District 32-5A
Porter def. Lopez 22-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-9
Donna High def. Pace 25-17, 24-26, 28-26, 25-14
TAPPS
St. Joseph Academy def. CC John Paul II 25-12, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-6