It’s “Bird Bowl” time in District 32-6A volleyball.
The first 32-6A match of the season between city rivals Harlingen High and Harlingen South takes place at 6:30 p.m. today at the Lady Cardinals’ gym.
It’s an interesting scenario that finds the Lady Hawks and Lady Cardinals matching up this time around.
Harlingen High is 2-1 following 32-6A wins against San Benito and Brownsville Hanna along with a loss to undefeated district leader Los Fresnos (3-0).
South is 1-2 with a win against San Benito and losses to Los Fresnos and Brownsville Rivera.
In the minds of the two Harlingen rivals, this is a “Bird Bowl” match that neither the Lady Cardinals nor the Lady Hawks can afford to lose with the district’s playoff race so tight.
Both sides are pumped up for today’s match.
“My expectations for the match are for our team to show up, perform, rise to the challenge, pick up the level of our game, play through the loud crowd noise, keep our composure and come out with the win,” Lady Cardinals coach Joslynn Torres said.
Each team is coming off a disappointing setback from last Saturday. The Lady Cardinals came up short against Los Fresnos 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22. South also dropped a close match against Rivera 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22.
“It was a tough, competitive match (Saturday),” Lady Hawks coach Anissa Lucio said. “Rivera’s a great team. I’m confident our girls are going to come back stronger for this next match.”
After today’s “Bird Bowl” matchup, 32-6A teams have an open date Saturday.
The 32-6A standings have Los Fresnos at 3-0, Rivera and Harlingen High at 2-1, South and Hanna at 1-2, and San Benito at 0-3.
32-5A UPDATE
Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Edcouch-Elsa share the District 32-5A lead with 5-0 records.
Donna High holds sole possession of third place at 3-2. Brownsville Porter, Mercedes and Brownsville Pace are all 2-3, Brownsville Lopez is 1-4, and Valley View is 0-5.
The 32-5A schedule at 7 p.m. today has Lopez at Brownsville Veterans, E-E at Porter, Donna High at Mercedes and Pace at Valley View.
Brownsville Veterans plays at E-E at 4 p.m. Saturday for a 32-5A showdown.
RANKINGS WATCH
Several Rio Grande Valley volleyball teams continue to be state-ranked this week by the Texas Girls Coaching Association.
In Class 6A, McAllen High (33-2) has dropped from No. 3 to No. 10 after losing to McAllen Memorial last week and surrendering the lead in District 30-6A. Los Fresnos made it back in the 6A rankings at No. 25 last week, but has since dropped out again this week.
Three Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 7 Mission Veterans Memorial (31-5), No. 15 E-E (24-7) and No. 23 Brownsville Veterans (21-7).
San Isidro, listed at No. 21 in the Class 1A-2A poll last week, is no longer in the rankings.
EAST VALLEY TOP 5
1. Los Fresnos
2. Brownsville Rivera
3. Harlingen South
4. Brownsville Veterans Memorial
5. Harlingen High