By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
For the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles, it’s nice to have Odalys Gonzalez returning for another volleyball season, especially since quite a few of her starting teammates from one year ago have graduated.
Gonzalez, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker, was named The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro MVP last season as a junior. She’s now a senior and picking up right where she left off in 2018. She’s even brought along her little sister, Litzy Gonzalez, to the varsity this season.
Gonzalez led the Lady Eagles to a 3-0 scrimmage sweep Tuesday at Lopez as a new season of volleyball gets underway. The Hanna girls won 25-18, 25-22, 26-24.
“ We’ve had a substantial loss of players, so I guess you could call it a rebuilding season for us,” Lady Eagles coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “Considering that, I guess we did all right. We need to bring a lot more to the plate to be a good competitor this season (though). Odalys, yeah, (is the main starter back). Due to injuries we have a very limited squad right now.
“ We would like to have everyone back at some point, including two players who have starting experience,” Hagemann added. “We hope to work hard and surprise people.”
Gonzalez did her part Tuesday against the Lady Lobos with a double-digit number of kills and several blocks.
Both teams went to the playoffs last season — Hanna as the runner-up from District 32-6A and Lopez as the fourth-place squad from District 32-5A.
“ It’s really the first scrimmage for us,” Lady Lobos coach Daya Venegas said. “We need more work. Playing a Class 6A school (such as Hanna) is always hard. We’ve been practicing together for only two days, so we need work. We’ve got things we need to do.
“ Yes, we had some good moments,” Venegas added. “(The bottom line is) we need work. The good thing is we have a young team and these girls are coachable, so I think we’re going to be fine. We’ll get there.”
Lopez led 1-0 to start the first game before Hanna took the lead for good with advantages of 7-2, 12-5, 19-10 and 24-12. The Lady Lobos pulled within six points, 24-18, on a kill by Olga Arozena before Lopez hit the ball out on the next point to allow Hanna to win the opening game.
The next set was much more competitive, and it featured 12 ties. The Lady Lobos surged to their biggest lead of five points, 20-15, when the Lady Eagles hit a ball out. But the Lopez girls couldn’t maintain the lead. Hanna came back to even the score at 20 and 21 before winning the second game 25-22 on a block by Gonzalez.
The Lady Lobos’ final advantage during the third game was 8-7. From there, the score was tied at 8, 9, 11 and finally 24 before the ball was blocked out by Lopez, giving Hanna a 25-24 edge. A hitting miscue by the Lady Lobos on the third game’s last point enabled the Lady Eagles to win 26-24 and sweep the match.
Hanna next plays at the Poundfest Tournament on Thursday in McAllen. Lopez’s next action is Friday at the Donna Tournament.