DONNA — The Roma Gladiators drew tournament host Donna High during their first match of pool play Thursday at the Donna ISD volleyball tournament.
Gladiators head coach Angie Garcia told her team to bring the energy and attack the ball going into their match.
Senior middle hitter Maria Cantu and sophomore middle hitter Eliza Martinez executed their coach’s orders to perfection, delivering kill after kill to take down the Bravettes 25-17, 25-13, at the Donna High Gymnasium, setting the tone for the afternoon.
Cantu made her presence felt early, delivering a powerful spike past the Bravettes’ defense to give her team a 13-7 advantage during the opening set.
Later, with the Redskins cutting the deficit to four, Martinez answered with a monster kill, effectively ending Donna High’s comeback attempt.
“They’re big and help us out a lot,” Garcia said. “They’ve been working hard and getting more blocks. Hopefully, as the season progresses, they’ll get even better. We’re trying to connect with them in hitting, not just defensively, but to also be huge for us on offense.”
The Gladiators followed up their victory with another pair of sweeps, taking down La Joya Juarez-Lincoln (25-9, 25-11) and Valley View (25-7, 25-10), finishing at the top of Pool C with a 3-0 record.
“I just kept telling the girls that they need to maintain with the same energy all throughout,” Garcia said. “Regardless of who we play or whether we’re up or down, it doesn’t matter. We have to keep attacking the ball regardless. So, they did that, and we came out on top.”
Meanwhile, the Bravettes bounced back from their opening loss with a pair of victories, defeating Valley View (25-17, 25-14) and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln (25-9, 25-11), finishing pool play 2-1.
Donna will have to wait and see the results of the remaining pools before finding out which bracket it’ll be a part of Saturday.
“I think starting off against Roma gave us some confidence,” Donna head coach Cindy Viesca said. “After losing to them, we knew that we needed to win the next two to be in a top bracket. Roma has a great team. They’re very quick. That’s the kind of team we want to be playing in the preseason.
Despite opening the tournament with a loss, Viesca said the return of tournaments is a blessing.
“We’re grateful we’re having this opportunity,” she said. “The kids are excited. This is where we get a lot of our experience. Getting back on the court, it’s really good for us.
“They’re going to be extremely important. Our kids are learning as we go. We’re still trying to work on our lineups. This gives us a chance to see where the kids are going to fit best for us.”
Elsewhere, the San Benito Greyhounds finished 3-0, earning the top spot in Pool A, coming away with victories over Donna North, Grulla and La Joya Palmview.
The Mission Veterans Patriots finished first in Pool B, defeating La Joya High, Raymondville and Brownsville Jubilee on their way to a 3-0 afternoon.
The Gladiators, Greyhounds and Patriots all secured spots in the Gold Bracket, with the top eight teams advancing to the championship tournament Saturday at the Donna North gymnasium.
Pool play is set to resume at 11 a.m. today, with the remaining 16 teams battling it out for the final five spots in the championship bracket at the Donna North and Donna High gymnasiums.