McALLEN — Angel Avila and Nayeli Hernandez have something in common.

Neither was very enthusiastic about wrestling at first.

“At first, I didn’t like it,” said Avila, a senior at Sharyland Pioneer. “My brother (who was a wrestler) would have to pay me to go to (his) wrestling practices.”

Hernandez, a senior at PSJA High, was a four-sport athlete in middle school when she was recruited to come out for wrestling in ninth grade.

“I never imagined myself in wrestling,” Hernandez said.

Now, both of them stand as The Monitor’s All-Area Lightweight Wrestlers of the Year.

Avila got into the sport thanks to his older brother Isidro. He started wrestling for the Diamondbacks as a freshman.

“Once I started trying it and once I had my first meet, I got a win so I felt pretty good and proud that all that hard work actually turned out pretty good,” Avila said. “So, ever since then, I’ve kept going and going. I love the sport.”

Despite starting with a win, Avila, who wrestles at 126 pounds, found it tough as the competition increased. He realized that going into a match with anger was not the right approach.

“My brother said don’t use your anger,” Avila said. “Because I would use my anger, I wasn’t mentally prepared. So, I was just like mad. I wasn’t doing anything right.”

Avila has done plenty right since, having won back to back district championships. He was also second in regionals both years and finished sixth in the state this year after finishing 11th at the state meet last year.

He went 85-19 in matches the past two seasons, an amazing winning percentage of .817.

Pioneer coach Richard Eckley describes Avila as a scrapper with an unorthodox style.

“Since we are kind of behind some of the kids up north when it comes to technique because they start younger, we just kind of work to find something that works for each kid and let them go with it,” Eckley wrote in an email. “Angel is comfortable in all sorts of weird situations, so he can take advantage when a more traditional wrestler isn’t too sure what to do.”

One good example happened at the state meet this year. Avila was tangling with an opponent from Katy in the quarterfinal.

“The other guy hesitated for a second on a single-leg and Angel locked up a cradle with his own leg stuck inside the cradle,” Eckley wrote. “Fortunately, Angel is comfortable in weird situations and was able to keep the cradle for the rest of the first period and was up 5-0. He ended up winning the match 9-5, which secured his spot in the state semifinals.”

Avila set school history by going 2-0 in his first-day matches at the state meet this spring. A 2-0 record on Day 1 automatically means one will compete on Day 2, when champions are determined.

“I was the first guy in my school (to do that),” Avila said. “I was proud of myself. The second day was different. It was harder. People were prepared. People wanted it more. The guy I wrestled (in the semifinals) was pretty good. We were both good. My coach said that, ‘I’m not mad at you losing because you guys both did an amazing job.’”

Down five points late in the match, Avila mounted a comeback but a last-second move by his opponent secured the victory.

“It was a super close match,” Avila recalled.

PRODUCING BIG FOR THE BEARS

Hernandez also had a big year for the Bears. She got off to an 18-0 start before suffering her first loss. She didn’t lose again until the regional meet.

The loss at regionals to an opponent from San Antonio Lee was a tough one because Hernandez thought she had it won.

“I was up 5-0 and I had her pinned, but they never called it,” Hernandez said.

At barely 110 pounds, Hernandez doesn’t look like a wrestler, but a combination of quickness and technique enables her to subdue most competitors. One of her signature moves involves sweeping out the legs of her opponent.

Hernandez has finished in the top six in Texas for two straight years.

As a junior, Hernandez won the district title and regional championship before placing sixth at state. This year, she again won district, took third at the region and earned the fifth spot at state.

As a sophomore, she went 33-10. That climbed to 43-7 as a junior and 30-4 as a senior. That’s 106 victories in three years. Not bad for someone who didn’t win a single wrestling match as a freshman.

“I practiced all my summers (to get better),” Hernandez said. “That’s all I ever did was practice, practice, practice.”

Coach Joseph Villanueva, who first recruited Hernandez into wrestling when she was in eighth grade, coached Hernandez at both PSJA High and in the All Valley Wrestling Club.

“It’s a story we use to motivate our kids,” Villanueva said. “Especially those that don’t do so hot. We don’t want them to lose confidence and (we want them) to stay with the program. Wrestling-wise, she had zero wins (except for byes). It’s an amazing turnaround.”

The club members would travel to USA Wrestling Tournaments. She took third place in a tournament in Fargo, North Dakota, last July and was fifth at the Pre-Season National Girls Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, in October.

“It’s the best of the best up there,” Villanueva, who coaches the All Valley Club with Coach Javier Rendon, said.

And now, through sheer dedication, the diminutive Hernandez stands above the rest on The Monitor’s All-Area superlatives.

LA FERIA — Derek Luna netted 25 points as Sharyland Pioneer punched its ticket to the Region IV-5A regional tournament following a 71-58 victory over Corpus Christi Veterans on Tuesday in a Class 5A regional quarterfinal.

With its 17th straight win, Pioneer (28-7) will be playing in the regional tourney for the first time in program history. The Diamondbacks will face San Antonio Harlan.

Miguelangel Gonzalez poured in 14 points and Lavar Lindo, who got into early foul trouble, added nine. Breon Thompson (15 points) and Tobi Agiriga (11 points) led the Eagles in scoring.

Luna drained four 3-point shots to keep Pioneer in the game. Gonzalez added three more.

“It feels real good,” Luna said. “I wasn’t trying to force the three but if it was open, I was going to shoot it.”

Veterans, which finished tied for second in District 30-5A, closes out the season end with a 30-10 record.

“These players are amazing,” Pioneer head coach Rene Gonzalez said. “They know exactly what to do and they are so awesome to work with.”

The Eagles pressed much of the game but the Diamondbacks, despite committing 17 turnovers, never seemed to lose their composure.

“They know what to do,” said Gonzalez, who is in his sixth year coaching Pioneer. “Break the press. Experience, experience, experience. They’ve been there before. (I) let them play Pioneer basketball. It’s a thing of beauty what they did.”

Luna played on a state champion at Duncanville last year before moving to the Mission area. He compared the experience last year with the history being made at Pioneer this year.

“I just need everyone to believe that we can do it,” Luna said. “It was a fun ride last year. I learned a lot from it. Now I’m just trying to teach because what I’ve been through last year, I know what it takes to get to that level.”

Coach Gonzalez praised Luna as a hard worker who has contributed to the D-backs’ success.

“This guy’s legit,” he said. “This boy’s legit right here man. (He’s) incredible. He’s a blessing in disguise to our program. Great kid. This boy can ball. Not only can he ball, but he’s a great leader. He jelled with my players. We’re family.”

Pioneer led after one quarter, 22-16, but Lindo sat out the second frame with three fouls. The Eagles outscored the D-backs by five in the second to cut Pioneer’s lead to 33-32 at halftime.

The Eagles gained control, taking a 39-35 lead on Agiriga’s close shot with 4:31 to play in the third. Just as Veterans seemed to be taking control, the D-backs produced a big run.

They regained the lead for good on a drive by Ethan Lee (45-43) with 1:50 to go in the third. What would prove to be a 19-6 run was capped by Luke Padilla’s jumper off a feed from Luna for a 54-45 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Lindo made his presence felt in the second half collecting rebounds and defending Thompson, the Eagles’ top scorer. The D-backs out rebounded the Eagles 37-31.

Corpus Christi did not generate a run in the fourth and the D-backs steadily built a bigger lead, eventually up by 16 before settling into a 13-point win.

Pioneer relied heavily on a 2-3 zone defense against the taller, quicker Eagles. During the first half, the Eagles shot 20 free throws but shot only four in the second half.

“We made some adjustments at halftime,” Coach Gonzalez said. “Doing little things. Box out. Close out. Take charge and stuff like that.”

The game featured six ties and three lead changes.

WESLACO — Leslie Martinez scored 19 points as Edinburg High used some stout defense to avenge a loss to Weslaco High with a 59-39 victory Tuesday.

The Bobcats’ win puts them in a tie with the Panthers for first place in District 31-6A with two games remaining on the schedule. Edinburg High is 31-3 overall and 9-1 in the district, while the Panthers slipped to 28-6 and 9-1. Both teams were district co-champs a year ago.

The Bobcats won for the sixth consecutive time and have taken 11 of their previous 12 games. Weslaco High had its eight-game winning streak snapped.

Daysha Tijerina added 16 points, while teammate Julissah Santa Maria netted 14 for the Bobcats. Morgan Peralez led the Panthers with 17 points followed by Kirsten Padilla with eight.

The win offset a 47-46 loss Edinburg High sustained to Weslaco High on Jan. 10.

“I think, coming into this game, our mindset was completely different than the first game,” Martinez said. “We fought for every loose ball. We fought for every rebound and we just came out with a victory.”

The Bobcats led 32-26 at halftime and outscored the Panthers 27-13 in the second half. They out-rebounded the Panthers 43-28.

“Leslie has gone from playing different positions to becoming our point guard,” Bobcats eighth-year head coach John David Salinas said. “We are extremely fortunate to have a kid like that that can play multiple positions and be versatile, not just versatile, but impactful. She gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the girls.”

Edinburg High’s Brianna Sanchez, a 6-foot-2 center, got into early foul trouble and had to come out as Weslaco High was able to keep the score relatively close in the first half. Sanchez was a defensive force, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds in the second half.

“That kind of hurt us a little bit,” Salinas said about Sanchez’s foul trouble. “Their big presence was hurting us. Once she (Sanchez) got in, it really helped us out, especially in the second half.”

The Panthers were held to just one field goal in the third quarter as the Bobcats began to build a two-digit lead. Martinez capped off the quarter with a 38-foot buzzer beater from mid-court that gave Edinburg High a 46-33 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The Panthers kept themselves in the game at the free-throw line where they hit 15 of 24 foul shots.

When Martinez was not hitting shots, she was driving to draw in the defense and set up outside shooters like Tijerina and Santa Maria.

“I am very confident in my shooters so I know, when I drive, my shooters that I have on the outside are going to hit,” Martinez said.

The Bobcats improved to 8-0 on the road this season.

On Friday, Edinburg High will play host to Edinburg Vela, while Weslaco High visits Weslaco East. Both games will begin at 6 p.m.

EDINBURG — Brownsville Hanna shook things up by taking down Edinburg Vela in the first set. However, the SaberCats rallied to take the next three for a four-set victory in their Class 6A bi-district playoff match Tuesday.

Vela’s win avenged a first-round loss to Hanna in last year’s playoffs as they won 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-13. The SaberCats, who won their sixth straight match, will face either McAllen Memorial or Laredo LBJ in the area round.

Vela, the District 31-6A champion, improved to 29-11, while District 32-6A fourth seed Hanna fell to 22-23.

Vela head coach Araceli Ortega thought nerves played a factor as Hanna raced to a big lead in the first set.

“They (Hanna) came out firing and it took us a little while to adjust,” Ortega said. “We finally started recognizing, ‘Hey, we are at home,’ and we were able to play our game.”

Down 24-16, Vela rattled off six straight points behind the service of Dayana Cantu before the Golden Eagles locked up the first set.

“Losing that first set woke us up,” SaberCat senior Glenys Maldonado said. “We took that challenge. We reacted positively and we got the next set.”

Maldonado led the team with 17 kills, 19 points and 20 digs. Fey Vasquez contributed 19 kills.

Vela led by as many as six points early during the second set before Hanna forged a comeback, taking a 21-19 lead on a perfectly placed tap by middle hitter Odalys Gonzalez. Gonzalez was a force all over the floor for Hanna, wracking up 21 kills.

Vela outscored the Eagles 6-2 the rest of the way to claim the second set and square the match at 1-1.

Hanna’s Camille Atkinson produced 14 assists and sophomore Rianna Treviño had eight digs.

Vela engineered another six-point lead (10-4) in the third set before the Eagles clawed back, taking a 17-16 lead on an ace by Gonzalez. Vela regrouped and outscored Hanna 9-3 the rest of the way, capping the set with a block. Vela then overwhelmed Hanna like a tsunami in the fourth set, never trailing, as they coasted to a 12-point win.

“I feel all the butterflies, nerves were gone (by the fourth set),” Maldonado said. “Everyone was talking to each other. We were pumping each other up.”

Ortega praised the efforts of her players.

“Our freshman, Fey Vasquez, really helped us in the middle,” Ortega said. “She was putting the ball where they weren’t and that really helped us. Glenys Maldonado pulled through on some big plays. Of course, we’ve been banking on her all season.”

EDINBURG — Kenya Ibarra slammed home 26 kills as Brownsville Rivera topped Edinburg High in three sets on the road Monday in a Class 6A bi-district playoff matchup.

The Raiders won 25-22, 25-15, 25-17 to advance to the area round. They will face tonight’s winner between Laredo United and McAllen Rowe later this week.

The Bobcats, who came in winners in six of their previous seven matches, saw their season end at 18-20.

Ibarra, a sophomore, added four aces and eight digs for the Raiders (28-12). Sophomore Clarissa Olivares contributed 38 assists and freshman libero Richelle Guerra added 32 digs and three aces.

“She played awesome,” Rivera’s 27-year head coach Mary Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “She was on fire today. She was able to move the ball and hit hard to keep them more on their toes which, I think, really helped.”

“The girls really came together,” Avelar-Guerra said. “They played as a team. They played hard. They were aggressive the whole time.”

Rivera also swept Edinburg High during a regular season matchup Aug. 31.

“Everybody showed how much they wanted to be here,” Ibarra said. “That’s what the game is about.”

Bobcat senior Bryahne Salinas snapped off a pair of kills during a 7-0 run in the first set. Edinburg High led 18-15 at one point before the Raiders came back for a three-point victory. Avelar-Guerra said winning that initial set bolstered her team’s confidence.

“That was a really tough game,” she said. “Both teams were playing hard and, yes, it was very important because it built momentum.”

Bobcats head coach Deanna Dominguez felt if Edinburg High had won the first set, the match may have gone in a whole other direction.

“Volleyball is all about momentum,” she said. “We had a lot of hope on that first set because we were up … and then we let them come back. We sputtered a little bit.”

Junior Kristen Salinas had 12 digs and 14 assists for the Bobcats. Junior Hannah Vega contributed 23 digs, while senior Celeste Del Villar added six kills and junior Zarina Rodriguez blocked five shots.

The Raiders led 9-7 in the second set before they went on a 12-4 run for a 21-11 lead. Junior Christina Garza fired off a kill shot to end the second game.

During the third set, Rivera jumped out to a 13-5 lead before the Bobcats climbed back into it, cutting the lead down to 15-12 before the Raiders closed it out with a 10-5 run. Olivares set up Laisha Izaguirre for a kill on the match winner.

Dominguez put her season into perspective.

“Upon reflection, I’m very proud of where we ended up because there were times when things looked really challenging,” she said. “They’re coachable kids and they really embraced whatever we asked them to do (this year).”

The Bobcats will graduate three seniors as they look ahead to next season.

MISSION — Tristen Maddox and Andrea Espinosa combined for 25 kills as Sharyland High took down PSJA Southwest in straight sets in their District 31-5A volleyball match Saturday.

Both teams are now tied for third place at 8-5 in the district. However, Sharyland won a coin flip after the match to earn the third seed should they and PSJA Southwest finish the regular season with the same record. The Javelinas would be the fourth seed.

Sharyland won 25-19, 25-20 and 25-10 to improve to 21-19 overall. PSJA Southwest slipped to 20-16.

The Rattlers had dropped a five-set decision to Southwest on Oct. 1. That forced Sharyland head coach Raul Castillo to strategize for the rematch.

“It was to take advantage of their defense,” Castillo said. “We pretty much practiced what they run … anytime we were able to pass, we were able to do that.”

That included special instructions to his setter, Ana Paola Cerda, who recorded 27 assists in three sets Saturday.

“I told her, ‘Just keep an eye on her (opposing blockers),’” Castillo said. “‘If the blocker stays with you, set the ball. If the blocker leaves, give the ball to the middle.’ She did a pretty good job today with that.”

Cerda continuously set up Maddox (14 kills) and Espinosa (nine kills) with scoring opportunities.

“I really trust them,” said Cerda, a junior. “That’s why I set them a lot. I’m really happy that we won on Seniors Night because our seniors have worked really hard.”

Maddox was also part of the game plan. She was told to look for specific spots on the floor to hit with her kill attempts.

“Coach likes to set up blocks (in practice) so we have to hit around it and practicing that really helped us,” the senior Maddox said. “We just really came together and coach motivated us before the game and all week for this game. She (Cerda) does really well putting us up.”

Libero Ximena Chapa had four assists and three aces while middle blocker Marissa Jones blocked four shots for the Rattlers.

Sharyland grabbed an early lead in the first set and led 11-8 when the Rattlers produced a 7-2 run capped by Espinosa’s dink for an 18-10 lead. Southwest fought back but fell six points short.

In the second set, the Javelinas jumped ahead on the play of Kassy Bucio. Southwest led 12-9 at one point before the Rattlers fought back to take a 19-18 lead on a Maddox kill. Sharyland outscored Southwest the rest of the way 6-2 for a five-point win.

Karen Prado had several good blocks for the Javelinas.

The third set was all Sharyland as they erupted for a 15-point win. Maddox sealed it with a cross-court kill.

Despite the loss, PSJA Southwest is heading to the postseason for the first time in the program’s 10-year history.

Sharyland will finish the regular season at PSJA Memorial while PSJA Southwest plays host to La Joya Palmview on Tuesday.

DONNA — Each time Edcouch-Elsa faced adversity in the second and third set Tuesday, the Yellow Jackets refocused their energy to produce points. The formula worked as E-E won a three-match affair on the road against Donna High in District 32-5A action.

The Jackets recorded a 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 sweep for their 15th straight win. They improved to 31-7 overall and 10-0 in district. Donna lost its second match in a row and slipped to 19-18 and 5-5.

Veronica Elizondo led the Jackets with 11 kills. She added nine digs. Endiya Devoe enjoyed seven kills and Sarah Flores had six kills plus nine digs. Meagan Acevedo had 14 assists and 11 digs for E-E.

“My team is real versatile, so they know their own strengths and weaknesses and knew what they needed to do to come into this game to win it,” E-E head coach Gloria Treviño said.

The Yellow Jackets led 10-7 in the second set when the Donna went on a 9-3 run to grab a 16-13 lead. Treviño called timeout.

“I always have to remind them, momentum,” Treviño said. “Momentum of the game is what keeps you going.”

Middle blocker Bryanna De La Peña (eight digs, four blocks) believed it helped.

“She was telling us to not give up and she was motivating us to keep trying,” De La Peña said.

E-E scored six straight points behind the service of Flores to take a 19-16 lead. Donna led again at 20-19 before the Jackets scored six of the next eight points to take the second set.

Clarissa Garcia led the Donna with seven kills. Teammate Ruby Villalobos produced 16 assists while Ashley Rodriguez (22 digs) and Ivette Valladares (17 digs) anchored the defense.

“Defensively, our back row did pretty good,” Donna head coach Cynthia Viesca said. “Our libero (Rodriguez) did a real good job there.”

In the third set, E-E jumped to a 5-0 lead and never trailed but Donna did climb to within one point (19-18) of evening the score off a Brianna Caldwell kill.

Again, the Jackets refocused and finished the game with a 6-3 run.

“We reminded them that we can play at this level,” Viesca said. “They’re (E-E) very competitive so we kind of came out flat but we kind of talked to the girls, got them going a little bit, so we were able to step up. I was hoping we could win a set or two.”

E-E pulled a season sweep, having bested Donna in three sets Sept. 21 in Elsa.

Donna will visit Brownsville Pace on Saturday, while the Yellow Jackets play host to Mercedes.

EDINBURG — Pablo Rivera scored three touchdowns to lead the Edinburg Vela SaberCats to a 35-18 victory in a non-district clash with Los Fresnos Thursday night at Richard R. Flores Stadium.

Vela, which won for the 31st time in its last 32 regular-season games, improved to 3-1 while the Falcons slipped to 1-3 with their third straight loss.

Rivera and backfield running mate Kevin McKinney combined for four scores and 196 yards on the ground for Vela.

“We got back in the habit of trying to establish the run,” Vela head coach John Campbell said. “McKinney did a good job. (Pablo) did a good job as well. I thought our offensive line performed very well. Our ability to run the ball and convert first downs was a big difference for us.”

Los Fresnos jumped on the board first when Hector Muñiz took a direct snap on a fake punt 82 yards on the game’s first possession. Vela’s Ivan Mendoza blocked the extra-point try.

The SaberCats went on to score 35 unanswered points to put the game away. Rivera ran up the middle for 23 yards to put Vela up 7-6. On the next possession, Rivera powered his way up the left side for a 2-yard run and a 14-6 lead after one quarter.

Vela led 28-6 at halftime on the strength of two more scores — a McKinney sweep to the right for 17 yards and a 35-yard catch by Justin Vega on a pass from Anthony Sotelo just 53 seconds left before the break.

Vela, which churned out 396 total yards and 21 first downs, added a TD in the third frame when Rivera capped a seven-play, 69-yard drive with a 9-yard catch from Sotelo.

Sotelo completed 8 of 11 passes with two touchdowns, giving him 10 TD passes this season. Chase Campbell also saw action under center, completing 3 of 5 tosses as he and Sotelo combined for 188 passing yards.

Kevin Rojas caught five passes for 102 yards.

The Falcons fought back, getting a second TD in the third quarter when Chris Resendez carried it in on an off-tackle play for 2 yards. The extra-point try was wide, leaving Vela in front 35-12. Resendez led all rushers with 116 yards 18 carries.

Los Fresnos quarterback Matthew Padilla ran down the left sideline for a 52-yard score in the fourth, cutting the lead to 35-18. The try for two points was no good.

The Vela defense helped set the tone early despite giving up a big play on the fake punt. The Falcons converted just one of 11 chances on third down (three-of-five on fourth down) and punted four times.

“We capitalized on a short field,” Campbell said.

Los Fresnos gained 328 yards, all on the ground.

Vela will open district play against Edinburg North next week. Los Fresnos will travel to face Odessa Permian in non-district action.

EDINBURG — Just call them the Road Warriors.

Paced behind the setting of Natalie Reyes and the kills from Daniela Alvarez and Lorelai Hill, Sharyland Pioneer trounced Edinburg Vela 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 Tuesday on Vela’s home floor.

Pioneer improved to 19-7. Nearly all of the Diamondbacks’ matches have been away from home. Vela slipped to 17-10.

“It’s been a long first half of the season (away from home),” Pioneer head coach Laura Cavazos said. “We’ve come a long way. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves on the road: trying to battle through home crowds and find ourselves where we need to be.”

Reyes felt the energy needed to match Vela’s.

“Keeping up our energy (was key),” the sophomore setter said. “They had a big crowd. We needed to be energized and looking to score.”

Cavazos credited her team’s defense.

“We put up a good block and we were forcing them to work around that,” she said. “Our back row was passing really well tonight. It was a total team effort. We know there’s just a few games before district. We want to make sure we are fine-tuning our product before we hit the district season.”

After dropping the first two sets, Vela put forth its best effort in the third. There were 12 lead changes in the third set. Vela never led by more than two or trailed by more than three. Trailing 21-20, Glenys Maldonado pounded across one of her 10 kills.

The Diamondbacks hit the next ball out and Vela led 22-21. However, Pioneer rallied to score four of the next five points to take the match. The winning point came on a blast by Thalia Ochoa off a feed from Reyes.

Maldonado’s 10 kills give her 999 for her career. She is expected to reach 1,000 career kills in her next match. She is also close to 1,000 career digs. She picked up 16 on Tuesday.

Pioneer controlled things in the first two sets. In the first, Pioneer engineered an 18-10 lead before Vela went on a 7-3 run to cut the score to 21-17. A kill by Alvarez got the momentum back in Pioneer’s favor and they won the remaining four points for the win.

“I’m looking for my hitters, trying to get that set up (during games),” Reyes said.

In set two, Vela found itself trailing 16-10 before going on a 5-2 run to trail 18-15. Pioneer outscored them 7-5 the rest of the way to lock up the second set.

“We were just making sure that we were talking, being very audible to our setter and amongst ourselves,” Alvarez said. “She’s (Reyes) a phenomenal setter.”

Pioneer will play San Benito in Mission at noon Saturday and begins district play against La Joya Palmview on Sept. 17. Vela will play host to Donna at noon Saturday and will compete in district starting Sept. 14 against Edinburg North.

HIDALGO — After a tough semifinal win, the Hidalgo Pirates steamrolled the PSJA Memorial Wolverines in two straight sets to claim the championship of the seventh annual Hidalgo Varsity Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at Hidalgo.

Melanie Salinas was a force at the net as she earned MVP honors for Hidalgo, which won the title match 25-10, 25-15.

“Our opponents have to change their hitting style because of her,” fifth-year head coach Kaydee Benavidez said. “They’re having to go around her for their hits. She’s our first line of defense.”

It’s the first time Hidalgo has taken the Hidalgo tournament title under Benavidez. She credits the team’s experience (nine returners and five seniors) not just from last year but also from this year’s third-place finish in a tournament in San Antonio.

“We came into this tournament with a lot of confidence,” Benavidez said. “We really came together as a team.”

The team pulled off a gritty semifinal win over Brownsville Porter 19-25, 25-21, 15-12. The Wolverines also emerged from a competitive semifinal having bested PSJA North 25-23, 25-22.

Carolina Carbajal sparked Hidalgo with five aces in the first set of the championship. Hidalgo led 15-10 before whipping off 10 consecutive points (including four aces by Carbajal) to take the first set in decisive fashion.

In the second set, Hidalgo again jumped to an early lead at 9-4 following a kill by Jacky Garcia. PSJA Memorial fought back on the strength of timely hitting and blocks by Victoria Gonzalez and Vianey Salazar but were never able to gain the lead.

Vanessa Espinoza had five kills in the two games including a cross-court beauty for the match winner. Salinas also had two big blocks at the net down the stretch.

Carbajal and Espinoza are both seniors and returning starters for the Class 4A Pirates.

“This is (Carbajal’s) first year playing front row,” Benavidez said. “She was a defensive specialist in the back last year. Playing front row, she has got her momentum in her swing and so she’s able to place her ball on her serves and she’s come up big for us on her services. Vanessa, I think, has got her groove on her hits. She’s not hesitating. She came into this year with a lot of confidence.”

Brownsville Lopez defeated La Feria to claim the consolation (Blue Bracket) trophy.

Hidalgo went 6-0 in the tournament and defeated PSJA Memorial twice, having faced them earlier in the week in pool play. The Pirates beat Valley View in the quarterfinal before facing Porter. PSJA Memorial (4-2 in the tourney) topped Donna North in its quarterfinal.