BROWNSVILLE — La Feria came into the night needing a win to distance itself from Brownsville Jubilee in the District 32-4A playoff race.
The Lionettes got it, earning a sweep over the Titans 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 on Tuesday at Jubilee High School in Brownsville. The win puts La Feria two games ahead of the Titans with only two matches remaining in district play.
La Feria head coach Rebea Fraga said the day off on Saturday because of pigskin gave the Lionettes the rest they needed coming into the match.
“I think because we have not played in a week, we seemed hungry and excited about playing,” Fraga said. “I think that helped.”
The Lionettes showed what separates them during the third set. Alena Benjamin, Mariah Patlan and Lillian Martinez picked up points at the net and provided blocks to slow the Titans’ attacks.
La Feria started hitting the ball stronger as the match progressed, and it showed on the scoreboard with the Lionettes winning by their largest margin in the final set.
“We were in a tough scenario, Jubilee is playing really well this second round,” Fraga said. “We had to come in here and play well, we got pushed, it was a good competitive match and we needed to win to continue our season.”
The Lionettes pounced on the Titans in the beginning of the second set, going up 7-0 before Jubilee responded.
The Titans responded by leveling the match at 7. Esther Lara’s two aces for Jubilee and other well-placed serves helped fuel the comeback. The Lionettes regained control of the set and won 25-21.
The performance at the beginning of the first set was jittery from both teams, possibly because of the playoff spot on the line. Back and forth they went until the Titans grabbed a 23-18 advantage after a Lionettes error.
La Feria came back to win the set 25-23.
“The first round was kind of rough for us, the second round we came back really strong, versus Grulla, Hidalgo and Zapata,” Jubilee head coach Jennie Coronado said. “Today we had a couple of hiccups and we had to make adjustments in our team, change our rotation, it effected our girls mentally. La Feria showed up today and we did not unfortunately.”
The Lionettes are now 7-5 in district, and the Titans move to 5-7. Next up for the Lionettes is Brownsville Harmony at 1 p.m. Saturday at Harmony in Brownsville. Jubilee takes on Raymondville at 12 p.m. Saturday at home.