PHARR — Joseph Trevino took over the Pharr IDEA volleyball program and immediately made some changes.
During that time, he added a strength and conditioning program and got the team involved in summer leagues all the while telling them, “trust the process, trust what I’m doing.”
The Lions bought in and now will play their first ever postseason match at 6:30 p.m. today at IDEA Brownsville Frontier in the bi-district round of the Class 3A UIL state playoffs. The Lions finished second in District 31-3A, with a 14-2 record, both district losses coming to Donna IDEA.
“It’s very scary but we also find it as a great opportunity,” senior setter Valerie Rodriguez said. “For the seniors, it’s our last chance to go at it and give the team a chance.”
Rodriguez said the team faced hurdles on and off the court, but that those challenges made them stronger and put them in position to reach their playoff goal.
“We usually play how we feel and we will pick each other up,” Rodriguez said. “If we put each other up, we usually have a really good game regardless of what the other team has.”
Sophomore hitter Aylen Flores said this year’s squad is like comparing night and day to last year’s team. A lot of the transition can be attributed to the upgrades Trevino implemented since his arrival.
“We started working during the summer and you can see the difference,” Flores said. “We didn’t have technique then and we didn’t have the bond we do as a team. We definitely grew as a team and went from one of the last teams to a top-three team indistrict.”
Other Class 3A games being played today include Rio Hondo at Donna IDEA at 6 p.m., Edinburg IDEA Quest at Weslaco IDEA Pikeat 6:30 p.m., and Alamo IDEA at Lyford at 7 p.m. See the complete RGV playoff schedule at RGVSports.com.
“The girls bought in to the process and their goals were to have a shot at district and make it to the playoffs,” Trevino said. “Thegirls who are seniors is the first group I started with. They reached their goals and this (playoffs) is our first rodeo. We need to make sure we buckle down and play the way we know we can.”