ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Porter Cowgirls started Saturday’s volleyball match on fire, but they weren’t quite as hot by the end.
Prior to the match at Porter, a fire alarm went off and everyone was ushered out of the gym and into the school’s parking lot.
It delayed the start of the match, but the Cowgirls still came out ready to play against Donna High in the teams’ District 32-5A opener.
Although Porter won the first game 25-18, the Bravettes prevailed in the next three sets 25-15, 27-25, 25-11 to take the match.
“Our girls did give a good effort, but we didn’t play as expected (especially at the end),” Cowgirls coach Tiffany Capistran said. “Our goal is to regroup and bring our competition to the court again before our next match.
“(We were sparked by) Katherine Salas, who had 13 kills, and that led our team,” Capistran added. “She pulled through for us when we needed her to.”
During Saturday’s opening set, the Cowgirls were ahead by as many as nine points, 14-5, thanks to an ace by Azaneth Perez. Back-to-back hits into the net by the Bravettes on the last two points of the set enabled Porter to win the opening game 25-18.
After a tie at 11 during the second game, Donna High surged ahead and scored 14 of the next 18 points. A hit into the net by Porter gave the Bravettes the win in the second game 25-16.
The third game was the most evenly contested set of the match. There were six ties, including the last one at 25, which came about due to a Donna High serve into the net. From there, the Cowgirls had a block carry out to put the Bravettes up 26-25, and then a well-placed tip by Donna High’s Caitlin Lopez won the third game 27-25.
The Cowgirls didn’t recover from the third-game setback and fell behind 13-2, 19-7 and 23-10 en route to dropping the fourth set 25-11.
“I think we were pretty evenly matched up today with Porter,” Bravettes coach Cynthia Viesca said. “Porter came out really strong. We were kind of down in the beginning, but I told my girls, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ We woke up, and we were able to pull off the win.
“It was the first district match, and you always want that win,” Viesca added. “It just feels good to open district with a victory.”
Stat leaders for Donna High were Claire Garcia (nine kills, four blocks), Chloe Molina (eight kills, two blocks), Brianna Caldwell (eight kills, two blocks), Ivette Valladares (four aces) and Ashley Rodriguez (37 digs).
Donna High next plays host to Brownsville Veterans Memorial on Tuesday. The same night, Porter is at Mercedes.