By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Lady Chargers picked up a confidence-building victory going into district as they defeated the Rivera Lady Raiders 26-24, 25-23, 15-25, 26-24 on Tuesday during an evenly contested, back-and-forth, non-district volleyball match on the Brownsville Veterans court.
“I told our girls they had to keep fighting (after we lost the third game decisively),” Lady Chargers coach Elizabeth Mares said. “I don’t know if they were thinking they won the first two games and that was good enough or what. They just kind of took it easy (during the third set). I don’t know what happened.
“I told them, ‘Rivera is a fighting team. They’re going to fight to the end,’” Mares added. “I know Rivera (because I graduated from there and played volleyball there). I told the girls, ‘This is our house, and right now you need to fight. Fight for yourselves, your fans, and show me you have that fight in you.”
The Lady Chargers responded by rallying from three-point deficits of 22-19, 23-20 and 24-21 during the fourth set to take the game 26-24 and win the non-district match when Rivera hit a ball long on the final point.
The Lady Chargers open District 32-5A competition at 4 p.m. Saturday at home against Pace. Rivera is at home for a non-district match against St. Joseph Academy at noon Saturday. The Lady Raiders open District 32-6A action Sept. 21.
Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said Brownsville Veterans played a little more consistently than her squad, and that was the difference.
“It was a good match, and both teams played really well,” the Rivera coach said. “The only thing was we got tight at the end, and we didn’t finish it. We got tight, and we were scrambling most of the time there at the end. The pass was there and our biggest hitter (Kenya Ibarra) was right there on the outside, but we didn’t make the pass (to set up a kill) and finish (the fourth game to send the match to a deciding fifth set).
“We made some bad decisions, the other team played well,” she added. “They played together and made better decisions than we did tonight. They just played a little smarter than we did.”
The opening game featured 12 ties, the last at 24, and was won 26-24 by the Lady Chargers after the set-winning point came on a hit by the Lady Raiders that carried just beyond the back line.
Back-to-back kills by the Lady Chargers’ Dominique Mena on the last two points of the second set after a tie at 23 enabled Brownsville Veterans to win that game 25-23.
After a tie at 1, the Lady Raiders led the rest of the way during the third game. A Brownsville Veterans serve into the net on the final point of the set gave Rivera a 25-15 victory.
There were 12 ties during the fourth game, the last of which came at 24, just a few minutes after the Lady Chargers trailed by three points at 22-19, 23-20 and 24-21.
Brownsville Veterans wouldn’t be denied as the Lady Chargers sent a ball over the net on a tip that wasn’t returned to go up 25-24. Then, a hit too long by Rivera ended the match with the Lady Chargers on top 26-24 in the fourth set.
Brownsville Veterans overcame a remarkable 45-kill performance by Rivera’s Ibarra, a sophomore middle blocker. Ibarra also had 13 digs and four blocks. Other stat standouts for the Lady Raiders were Christina Garza (14 kills, 10 digs, one ace), Richelle Guerra (37 digs, three kills), Clarissa Olivares (43 assists, 13 digs) and Alondra Guzman (17 digs, one ace).
For Brownsville Veterans, the stat leaders were Mena (23 kills, 21 digs, two aces), Alex Parchmont (52 digs), Monica Garcia (seven kills, two aces) and Daniela Espinosa (24 assists, eight digs, two aces).