By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The end of the first round of District 32-6A volleyball arrives today with some key matches on the schedule.

Los Fresnos (4-0) has assumed the 32-6A lead, while Brownsville Rivera (3-1) holds down second place. Harlingen High (2-2) and Harlingen South (2-2) share third place followed by Brownsville Hanna (1-3) and San Benito (0-4).

Tonight’s 6:30 matches to end the first round of district find Harlingen High at Rivera, Hanna at Harlingen South and San Benito at Los Fresnos.

At this point so close to the halfway mark of district, Los Fresnos, Rivera and South appear to be the strongest teams. Although South has had to bounce back from losses to Los Fresnos and Rivera, the Lady Hawks appear ready to make a strong showing during the second round if they can weather the challenge presented tonight by Hanna, a team battling injuries and inexperience, just like San Benito.

“I told the girls the (25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22) loss to Rivera (on Sept. 28) was a blessing in disguise, and we needed that to stay focused and grounded,” Lady Hawks coach Anissa Lucio said after last week’s decisive 25-17, 25-14, 25-17 “Bird Bowl” victory at Harlingen High. “We wanted to bounce back quick (after losing to Rivera,) and we did that, and I’m proud of my girls for doing that.”

The Lady Hawks have an experienced, senior-laden squad led by Mikela Mireles and Mya Pearl Aguirre.

Los Fresnos had 10 proven seniors one year ago when the Lady Falcons captured the 32-6A title.

This time, there are six seniors for Los Fresnos, who for the most part, played in the shadow of those seniors from last season. But they’re now making their presence known.

“I am very proud that right now we are 4-0,” Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. “Who would’ve thought we would be in this position with the tough district that we have. I feel like we are so closely matched in every game we play, no matter what team it is. It’s whoever is ‘on’ at that time, is the team that will win.”

Woods is proud of the job being done by her seniors this season.

“They feed off each other and are very competitive,” she said. “All of them work hard for a starting position. They are resilient and never give up. We have come back in many games after being down by as much as 12 points and won.

“It’s just a great group of kids who jell together at the last minute to make a very good volleyball team,” Wood added. “I knew we would have the hitters this year, but I was really worried about our defense, so we have concentrated on our passing game daily in practice. They have gotten very good at it, and they know what it takes to win matches.”

Perhaps the most interesting 32-6A match today finds Harlingen High at Rivera.

The Lady Raiders, a team that appears to have just the right balance of experience and youth, wants to stay right behind Los Fresnos in the standings. Meanwhile, the Lady Cardinals want to rebound from their loss to South and go into the second half with a 3-2 record.

32-5A UPDATE

Going into today’s second round of play in District 32-5A, Edcouch-Elsa is the leader at 7-0 and Brownsville Veterans Memorial is second at 6-1.

Donna High, Brownsville Pace and Mercedes share third place with 4-3 records. Brownsville Porter comes next at 2-5 and is followed by Brownsville Lopez at 1-6 and Valley View at 0-7.

The beginning of the second round of play at 7 p.m. today in 32-5A has Brownsville Veterans at Pace, E-E at Lopez, Porter at Donna High and Mercedes vs. Valley View.

RANKINGS WATCH

Only three Rio Grande Valley volleyball teams are state-ranked this week by the Texas Girls Coaching Association.

In Class 6A, McAllen High (35-2) is now No. 12 after being ranked 10th last week.

Two Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 6 Mission Veterans Memorial (33-5) and No. 13 Edcouch-Elsa (25-7).

Los Fresnos (6A), Brownsville Veterans (5A) and San Isidro (2A-1A) have been in and out of the rankings for much of the season.

EAST VALLEY TOP 5

1. Los Fresnos

2. Brownsville Rivera

3. Harlingen South

4. Brownsville Veterans

5. Harlingen High

Kevin Narro contributed to this report

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

It’s been proven again.

Brownsville can play soccer really well.

With a roster comprised entirely of players from Brownsville high schools, the Texas Southmost College men’s club soccer team captured the Texas Collegiate Soccer League South Conference championship with a 6-0 victory Sunday at home.

The Scorpions finished the regular season with a 5-0 record with 15 points by defeating the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners 6-0 at Scorpion Field.

“It’s great to play on this team (of Brownsville players),” said TSC’s Jose “Chevy” Echavarria, who two years ago played for the Lopez Lobos. “There’s commitment, friendship and everything with these guys, so it’s great.

“This is a typical Brownsville team,” Echavarria added. “We never give up. If we’re down (in the score) or we’re up, we don’t let up on the gas at any time. That’s something that is super important for any team that wants to win.

“This is just a little show for all the college coaches out there (who may have overlooked us). We may be from a little town (compared to San Antonio, Dallas and Houston), but we can do it.”

The Scorpions scored four goals during the first half and added two more tallies during the second half to secure the conference-clinching win.

“This feels really good,” TSC coach Mario A. Zamora said of winning the conference. “Since Day 1, that was our first objective. I remember telling the guys, ‘Let’s put that check mark on winning the conference,’ and now we can look forward to doing well at regionals (Oct. 25-27 at the University of Texas-Dallas). That’s our second objective of the season now.

“This is a great group of student-athletes,” added Zamora, who also coaches the Pace Vikings. “It’s a very talented group. All I have to do is just put the pieces together (in the lineup) and make sure they all get playing time. The guys have been doing a fantastic job.”

Scoring first-half goals for the Scorpions on Sunday were Isaac Cedillo of Rivera (fourth minute), Julian Espinoza of Rivera (17th minute), Juan Garza of Rivera (23rd minute) and Jose Zamora of Brownsville Veterans Memorial (33rd minute).

Second-half scores for TSC came from Victor Rodriguez of Hanna (59th minute) and Echavarria of Lopez (73rd minute).

“I feel we really played well as a team today,” said Jose Zamora, a defender on the left side. “We’re really good in all positions. Our midfield is probably the strongest. Things really worked out well for us today.

“It feels great to be conference champions,” he added. “There was a lot of pressure on us to do the same as last year’s undefeated team did, so this win feels great. Now that we’re going to regionals, it feels even better.”

Before they compete at the regional tournament Oct. 25-27 in Dallas, the Scorpions have a non-conference match scheduled at 3 p.m. Saturday at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley against the Vaqueros.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Silvia Salinas says she will always be a hometown girl from Brownsville, regardless if she has risen to one of the highest positions in Dallas ISD as executive director of athletics.

“I am very proud to be from Brownsville, and I always will be because my background has helped me become who I am,” said Salinas, who has worked in the Dallas ISD athletic department since 2004 and was promoted to its top athletic post earlier this school year.

The 1989 Hanna graduate, born and raised in Brownsville, has become the first woman to hold the position.

Her new role involves responsibility as the one supervising the athletic programs at 22 high schools and 32 middle schools in Dallas ISD.

While she is Dallas ISD’s first female executive director of athletics, she isn’t the first one from the Rio Grande Valley to hold the position. Gil Garza, former athletic director and football coach at Edcouch-Elsa and PSJA, served as the Dallas ISD athletic director from 2014-17 before retiring. Prior to going to Dallas ISD, Garza served as athletic director in San Antonio.

Salinas previously worked under Garza, and there are a number of fellow athletic directors who support her in her new role in Dallas.

One of them is Paula Gonzalez, the McAllen ISD athletic director who was the volleyball coach at Pace when Salinas attended Hanna and ran cross country and track along with being a member of the dance team for four years prior to her graduation in 1989.

As fellow athletic directors, Salinas and Gonzalez have since become good friends and supporters of each other as women in an area mostly occupied by men.

“It’s super exciting to hear the news that Silvia has gotten the opportunity to become the athletic director for Dallas ISD,” Gonzalez said. “It’s exciting not only because she is female, but because she is an extremely hard worker who has a genuine interest in doing what’s best for student-athletes and coaches.

“She is definitely an advocate for all athletic programs, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will do an awesome job in this position,” Gonzalez added. “I congratulate her and wish her the best of luck.”

In addition to running cross country and track at Hanna, Salinas went on to compete in those sports at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) before graduating in 1993.

She began her career teaching mathematics and coaching in 1993 at Lockhart High School. She has also taught and coached at Dallas Skyline High School, Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., Dallas Bryan Adams High School, Richland College and W.T. White High school in Dallas prior to joining the Dallas ISD athletic department.

Salinas received an undergraduate degree in exercise and sports science from Southwest Texas State, a master’s degree in sports administration from Northwestern State, and a doctorate in higher education and athletics administration from the University of North Texas.

She is currently vice president of the Gridiron Club of Dallas and the Dallas Chapter of the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.

When asked about those who have influenced her during her 27 years in education and 16 years in athletic administration, Salinas quickly mentioned coaches from her high school days at Hanna that included Joe Guerra, Ruben Fernandez and Paula Dodge. There’s also Joe Rodriguez, who was the Brownsville ISD athletic director during Salinas’ time as a student-athlete.

Salinas also credits members of her family for being a vital inspiration in her career. They include her mother, Rose-Anne Salinas, a former teacher and dance team instructor at Hanna; her aunt, Estela Zamora Kramer; and her uncle, Arnulfo “Zam” Zamora, a 1987 inductee into the Texas High School Athletic Directors Hall of Honor for his work in Laredo ISD.

Salinas is grateful for the opportunity to be in the position she now holds because she knows athletics is one of the things that attract students to school.

“It gets them involved (with the educational process),” she said. “That’s how I met coaches (and got to know them) as an athlete. My experiences in cross country and track & field at Hanna led me into the coaching profession. Paula Dodge, Joe Guerra, Joe Rodriguez (our athletic director then), and, of course, my mother, Rose-Anne Salinas, were not only my teachers, they were also my mentors and role models. They exemplified persistence, passion, commitment and dedication.

“I will never forget where I came from,” Salinas added. “Had it not been for my mother, my siblings, my teachers and coaches, I would not be involved in a career that I love. I can only hope I have the same effect on our (Dallas ISD) students.”

Salinas’ older brother is Michael Rudd, a former standout basketball player at Hanna during the late 1980s. She has two other siblings. They all graduated from Hanna.

Rudd is a loyal supporter of his sister in her new role with Dallas ISD.

“I am not surprised at her appointment as executive athletic director because she has dedicated her life to her career and achieving her goals,” said Rudd, who has two daughters he also strongly supports in athletics (Jordan in college basketball and Kennidy in high school soccer). “She has a tremendous work ethic, which I believe we all attribute to our mother.

“I am thrilled for her to be the first female executive athletic director for one of the largest school districts in Texas,” Rudd added. “It is a tremendous accomplishment. I could not be more proud of her, and I am excited for the student-athletes of Dallas ISD.”

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

St. Joseph Academy captured a TAPPS district volleyball victory Saturday that gives the Lady Bloodhounds plenty of promise for the rest of the season.

The Lady Bloodhounds defeated Corpus Christi Incarnate Word Academy 25-11, 25-14, 25-13 at the SJA gym.

“I think if we can win the next two or three (district) matches, we’ll be OK (and make the TAPPS playoffs),” SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said. “Today, what I think stood out the most was our girls kept their intensity, because we have a tendency to slack off at times. We kind of did that during the third set, but during the first two sets I think we kept that intensity up for the most part.

“That was something I liked to see because Incarnate Word was missing some players,” the SJA coach added. “When we played them the first time (in district) we went to five sets, and we won. Today, I told the girls, ‘Regardless of who is on the court (for them), you have to still play your game and play with intensity.’

“That was the whole (message) I had for them today. The one word I stressed to them was intensity. I think we did a fairly good job of doing it, except for maybe a little bit in the third set when we got a little too comfortable, and they scored a few points on our unforced errors.”

SJA improved to 3-2 in its TAPPS district and to 14-8 on the season.

It was the kind of match that became a confidence-booster at home for the Lady Bloodhounds.

SJA jumped out to leads of 10-1, 12-3 and 23-9 during the opening game before winning 25-11 on a serving ace by Ally Stachowiak.

The Lady Bloodhounds never trailed during the second game and held leads of 6-2, 10-4, 16-9 and 22-14 before Stachowiak again won the set with an ace. This time the score was 25-14.

There were two early ties at 1 and 2 during the third game, and Incarnate Word even led 2-1. But SJA then pulled away for advantages of 10-5, 14-6, 19-9 and 22-12. An Incarnate Word player couldn’t control a hit by SJA’s Mildred Verlage on the final point of the third game and the ball carried out of bounds, giving the Lady Bloodhounds the game 25-13 and the match in a sweep.

Stachowiak finished with 16 kills, four aces and three block-stuffs plus eight digs. Verlage had six kills and five digs. Elise Esparza added five aces and 27 assists. Andrea Jasso contributed five kills, one block-stuff and eight digs. Also for SJA, Natalia Montemayor had seven digs.

The Lady Bloodhounds next play at Laredo St. Augustine on Tuesday.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

SANTA ROSA — The Santa Rosa Warriors suffered a heartbreaking loss Friday night at home and remained winless in District 16-3A Division II.

The Warrriors built a 14-0 first-half lead against Hebbronville but could not hold it. Santa Rosa wound up losing 20-14 to the Longhorns in overtime.

Hebbronville trailed 14-7 at halftime and tied the score at 14 with 3:57 to go in regulation before missing a potential game-winning 38-yard field-goal attempt with four seconds left that likely would have won it without extra time.

Regardless, the game went to OT with the score knotted at 14, and the Warriors came out on offense first. But they lost a fumble on a pass reception on only their second play, which gave the Longhorns a chance to win.

On Hebbronville’s fifth play of OT, Longhorns running back Eli Serna burst up the middle and into the end zone from 8 yards out to give the visitors an unlikely victory just when it appeared earlier the Warriors would be celebrating a victory.

“ This (win) feels very good,” Hebbronville coach R.J. Montalvo said. “We’ve been in a three-game slump, so we needed it. I’m just proud of our players for coming down here to the Valley and battling to come back from a 14-point deficit. They fought hard and showed a lot of character.

“ We made some adjustments at halftime (and that helped),” Montalvo added. “A win like this lifts our spirits greatly. This puts us back in the district race.

“ My hat is off to Santa Rosa. They’re a tough ballclub defensively. I believe they’re going to bounce back and do well this season.”

Hebbronville improved to 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in district. Santa Rosa slipped to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in district.

Santa Rosa’s Jose Diaz-Mendez broke loose down the left sideline and went 88 yards to the end zone at the 9:21 mark of the second quarter to make it 7-0 after Juan Corona’s kick.

It became 14-0 with 5:29 showing during the second period when Diaz-Mendez threw a 56-yard scoring pass to Mike Bermea and Corona again added the conversion kick.

The Longhorns scored their first touchdown with 3:38 left before intermission to make it 14-7 when Emilio Acevedo crossed the goal line on a run from 2 yards out. Daniel Rodriguez kicked the extra point.

Santa Rosa was coming off last week’s 7-6 loss at Odem in its district opener. Hebbronville was coming off a 14-9 setback at home against Corpus Christi London.

The Warriors continue district play next Friday at Monte Alto. The Longhorns next play the same night at home against Odem in district.

When the Longhorns and Warriors played last year in Hebbronville, the Longhorns won 33-18.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The schedule maker isn’t doing the Pace Vikings any favors this week.

The Vikings are 4-1 overall and 4-0 in District 16-5A Division I football. They face quite a challenge in their 10-team district, and it’s not getting any easier for them as they play a road game at La Joya Palmview (3-2, 3-1) at 7 p.m. today after just playing Saturday and winning 28-22 at home against PSJA Memorial.

“It’s something that just so happened to come out that way on the schedule,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said of the fact his team has to play a Thursday road game after having a Saturday home game. “I would have preferred to have played that Saturday game on a Thursday or something like that, but that’s just the way the schedule came out.”

Regardless, the Vikings aren’t getting their usual full week of practice as they prepare for a tough district opponent.

Pardo is aware his team faces a playoff contender with a solid running game in Palmview.

“They do a great job rushing the ball,” Pardo said of the Lobos. “Their No. 21 (Carlos Pena) is a solid runner. Their quarterback (David Gonzalez) sparks them as well. If we can shut down their run game and limit our turnovers, we should be OK.”

Another 16-5A Division I game on tap at 7 p.m. today has Rio Grande City (4-1, 3-1) visiting PSJA Memorial (0-5, 0-4), so the Wolverines are experiencing the same short week as the Vikings.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium, 16-5A Division I action continues as Porter (2-3, 1-3) battles Brownsville Veterans Memorial (3-2, 2-2) in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week.

Teams from 16-5A Division I with open dates this week are Mission Veterans Memorial (4-1, 4-0), Lopez (0-5, 0-4), Donna High (2-3, 1-3) and PSJA Southwest (3-2, 2-2).

Also having open dates this week are teams from District 32-6A. Those teams are Hanna (2-3), Rivera (1-4), Harlingen High (4-1), Harlingen South (2-3), Los Fresnos (1-4) and San Benito (2-3). They begin 32-6A action next week.

Rounding out this week’s schedule for Herald-area teams are non-district contests at 7:30 p.m. Friday that find St. Joseph Academy (2-3) at Hidalgo (4-1) and Port Isabel (2-3) at Grulla (2-3).

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The tuneup is complete, and the showdown is next on the schedule.

Brownsville Veterans Memorial prepared for Saturday’s District 32-5A volleyball showdown with a fairly routine 25-7, 25-17, 25-17 win on its home court Tuesday against the Lopez Lady Lobos.

The victory gave the Lady Chargers a 6-0 record in 32-5A, same as defending champion Edcouch-Elsa, which won 25-13, 25-18, 26-24 on Tuesday at Porter to also stay unbeaten in district at 6-0.

The Lady Chargers play at the Lady Yellowjackets at 4 p.m. Saturday, with the winner taking over sole possession of the 32-5A lead as the first round of district play closes.

“Saturday is a big one for us,” Lady Chargers coach Elizabeth Mares said. “It should be a good one. It’s just going to come down to who makes less errors.

“I think we’re both good teams defensively, and offensively I think it’s going to be who makes less errors that day,” Mares added. “We’ll see what happens.

“We went over there (to E-E) last year during the second round of district and beat them, so that’s a positive for us (going into Saturday’s match). I’m going to tell our girls about that, so hopefully it will light a little fire under them.”

The Lady Chargers won all three of Tuesday’s games with relative ease. Unforced errors by the Lady Lobos on the final two points of the third set gave Brownsville Veterans a 25-17 win, and that clinched the match.

Earlier during the third game, Lopez went ahead 6-5 when the Lady Chargers hit into the net. It was the last time in the match for the Lady Lobos (1-5) to hold the lead.

There were seven ties during the third game, the final one coming at 12.

Mares said she became a little frustrated with her team’s play, even though it won with a sweep of the match.

“I thought we started off well tonight, and then I told the girls that there is something I think we need to work on, and that’s minimizing our errors,” the Lady Chargers’ coach said. “As soon as I said that, they started making a lot of errors. I was, like, ‘I’m going to start counting every error that we have, and you’re going to owe me something for them.’

“It just seemed like they started making more and more errors, so we still need to work on our mental game and our mental toughness,” Mares added. “I shouldn’t say something and they freak out about it.

“They were, like, ‘Coach, you shouldn’t have said anything,’ but I said, ‘No, you need to be mentally tougher.’ I just told them they needed to work harder because Saturday is a big one. They started picking things up and playing harder toward the end of the match tonight, so that was good.”

Alex Parchmont finished with three aces and 16 digs for the Lady Chargers. Monica Garcia added nine kills, and Daniela Espinosa contributed 18 assists.

It’s “Bird Bowl” time in District 32-6A volleyball.

The first 32-6A match of the season between city rivals Harlingen High and Harlingen South takes place at 6:30 p.m. today at the Lady Cardinals’ gym.

It’s an interesting scenario that finds the Lady Hawks and Lady Cardinals matching up this time around.

Harlingen High is 2-1 following 32-6A wins against San Benito and Brownsville Hanna along with a loss to undefeated district leader Los Fresnos (3-0).

South is 1-2 with a win against San Benito and losses to Los Fresnos and Brownsville Rivera.

In the minds of the two Harlingen rivals, this is a “Bird Bowl” match that neither the Lady Cardinals nor the Lady Hawks can afford to lose with the district’s playoff race so tight.

Both sides are pumped up for today’s match.

“My expectations for the match are for our team to show up, perform, rise to the challenge, pick up the level of our game, play through the loud crowd noise, keep our composure and come out with the win,” Lady Cardinals coach Joslynn Torres said.

Each team is coming off a disappointing setback from last Saturday. The Lady Cardinals came up short against Los Fresnos 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22. South also dropped a close match against Rivera 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22.

“It was a tough, competitive match (Saturday),” Lady Hawks coach Anissa Lucio said. “Rivera’s a great team. I’m confident our girls are going to come back stronger for this next match.”

After today’s “Bird Bowl” matchup, 32-6A teams have an open date Saturday.

The 32-6A standings have Los Fresnos at 3-0, Rivera and Harlingen High at 2-1, South and Hanna at 1-2, and San Benito at 0-3.

32-5A UPDATE

Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Edcouch-Elsa share the District 32-5A lead with 5-0 records.

Donna High holds sole possession of third place at 3-2. Brownsville Porter, Mercedes and Brownsville Pace are all 2-3, Brownsville Lopez is 1-4, and Valley View is 0-5.

The 32-5A schedule at 7 p.m. today has Lopez at Brownsville Veterans, E-E at Porter, Donna High at Mercedes and Pace at Valley View.

Brownsville Veterans plays at E-E at 4 p.m. Saturday for a 32-5A showdown.

RANKINGS WATCH

Several Rio Grande Valley volleyball teams continue to be state-ranked this week by the Texas Girls Coaching Association.

In Class 6A, McAllen High (33-2) has dropped from No. 3 to No. 10 after losing to McAllen Memorial last week and surrendering the lead in District 30-6A. Los Fresnos made it back in the 6A rankings at No. 25 last week, but has since dropped out again this week.

Three Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 7 Mission Veterans Memorial (31-5), No. 15 E-E (24-7) and No. 23 Brownsville Veterans (21-7).

San Isidro, listed at No. 21 in the Class 1A-2A poll last week, is no longer in the rankings.

EAST VALLEY TOP 5

1. Los Fresnos

2. Brownsville Rivera

3. Harlingen South

4. Brownsville Veterans Memorial

5. Harlingen High

Saturday’s District 32-6A volleyball victory at Harlingen South did wonders for the Rivera Lady Raiders.

The Lady Raiders knew they had just defeated one of the top 32-6A teams on its home court when they prevailed 25-16, 20-25, 25-15, 25-22 over the Lady Hawks.

The win gave Rivera a 2-1 record in district and allowed the Lady Raiders to stay within striking distance of 32-6A leader Los Fresnos (3-0).

“I think this win gives us more of a boost going into the next match,” said Rivera sophomore middle hitter Kenya Ibarra, the Lady Raiders’ leader in kills. “With more confidence, with more teamwork and with our coaches telling us we can do it, it’s a boost. We proved to ourselves that we can do it, so we’re going to keep going.

“Our team has come a long way since the beginning of the season in teamwork, bonding, coaching and every aspect of this game,” Ibarra added. “We don’t consider ourselves a young team any more. We’re growing. It’s the whole team working together.”

Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra, the Lady Raiders’ coach, sees the improvement as well.

“It gives us a lot of confidence for our girls to know they can come over here (to South) and beat this team,” Avelar-Guerra said. “South is a really good team. They can hit, they can defend, they can communicate. For my girls to come in here, play hard, stay with them and win, I’m really proud of them.

“They really had to step up, and they did what they had to do,” the Lady Raiders coach added. “It was a great job by our girls, but I told them there’s no time to rest because everybody in this district is going to be tough. I told them if they let their guard down, or have a bad day or whatever, it’s going to hurt us, so we have to be ready to play every single time.

“I’m just really proud of these girls.”

The Lady Raiders continue 32-6A action at 6:30 p.m. today at San Benito.

The complete 32-6A standings have Los Fresnos at 3-0, Rivera and Harlingen High at 2-1, South and Hanna at 1-2, and San Benito at 0-3.

Also at 6:30 p.m. today, it’s South at Harlingen High for the “Bird Bowl” and Los Fresnos at Hanna.

After today’s district action, 32-6A teams have an open date Saturday.

32-5A UPDATE

Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Edcouch-Elsa share the District 32-5A lead with 5-0 records. Donna High holds sole possession of third place at 3-2. Brownsville Porter, Mercedes and Brownsville Pace are all 2-3, Brownsville Lopez is 1-4, and Valley View is 0-5.

The 32-5A schedule at 7 p.m. today has Lopez at Brownsville Veterans, E-E at Porter, Donna High at Mercedes and Pace at Valley View.

Brownsville Veterans plays at E-E at 4 p.m. Saturday for a 32-5A showdown.

RANKINGS WATCH

Several Rio Grande Valley volleyball teams continue to be state-ranked this week by the Texas Girls Coaching Association.

In Class 6A, McAllen High (33-2) has dropped from No. 3 to No. 10 after losing to McAllen Memorial last week and surrendering the lead in District 30-6A. Los Fresnos made it back in the 6A rankings at No. 25 last week, but has since dropped out again this week.

Three Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 7 Mission Veterans Memorial (31-5), No. 15 E-E (24-7) and No. 23 Brownsville Veterans (21-7).

San Isidro, listed at No. 21 in the Class 1A-2A poll last week, is no longer in the rankings.

SOME NOTES

Jubilee Brownsville has completed the first round of District 32-3A play with a 9-0 record, winning each district match in straight sets … The Pace Lady Vikings pulled off a rare feat Saturday by winning all of their matches at Mercedes. Winning matches were the Pace varsity, junior varsity dark, JV light and freshmen teams … St. Joseph Academy plays at home twice this week. The Lady Bloodhounds play host to TAPPS defending state champion Victoria St. Joseph at 5:30 p.m. today and then play host to Corpus Christi Incarnate Word Academy at 3 p.m. Saturday.

EAST VALLEY TOP 5

1. Los Fresnos

2. Brownsville Rivera

3. Harlingen South

4. Brownsville Veterans Memorial

5. Harlingen High

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Running on the beach at the 4th annual Sylvia H. Torres Memorial Cross Country Meet was a fun experience for the Edinburg High Lady Bobcats.

Winning the meet a second straight year made it even more enjoyable.

The Lady Bobcats edged Mission High, 44-46, for the varsity girls team championship during the annual cross country event staged by Port Isabel. The meet has been held previously at the high school, but this time the meet’s starting and finishing point was Clayton’s on South Padre Island with a varsity boys and girls course of 3 miles — 1 1/2 miles up the beach and the same distance back to the finish line.

If running on the beach wasn’t enough to make things unique and interesting, sporadic rain showers Saturday morning added to the overall experience for the participants.

“ I felt we did pretty good considering two of our top runners didn’t run today,” Lady Bobcats coach Erin Sutton said. “We kind of had a last-minute schedule change. Originally, we were scheduled to run at the Round Rock McNeil meet today, but it didn’t work out. This was a better opportunity for our girls to do well, even though we were missing some of them.

“ They really showed up,” Sutton added. “They were excited because it’s a different atmosphere than a lot of other races. They had a lot of fun. There was music playing and a nice breeze (off the ocean). On the first half of the race they were thinking, ‘Oh, this is nice,’ but then they had to go against the wind coming back, and they said the rain felt like bullets against their skin. They said they felt like they were running in a hurricane.”

Missing for the Lady Bobcats were No. 1 runner Melanie Marroquin and No. 3 runner Lizbeth Raya.

“ This is our first meet victory of the season, but we actually won this meet last year,” Sutton said. “We’re excited about winning this meet for the second straight time. I’m hoping it gives us a positive mentality going into next weekend’s Meet of Champions in Donna, because the Meet of Champions is extremely competitive.

“ We’re excited about having our whole team together next week and seeing what it will do at the Meet of Champions,” Sutton added. “They’ve been working really hard, so we’re excited to see what they can do. Hopefully this (win) will be positive momentum for us.

“ I’m just really proud of our runners. They came in with a good attitude. There was a little bit of a shuffle because we didn’t know the girls were going to run so soon after the boys. But they showed up, and they competed well, so I’m really proud of them.”

Finishing behind Edinburg High with 44 points and Mission High with 46 were third-place Donna High with 63 points and fourth-place San Benito with 109 points.

Individually for the varsity girls, Brownsville Rivera’s Bethany Guzman won in 20 minutes, 29 seconds. Finishing in the top five behind Guzman were Edinburg High’s Ava Noyola (20:38), Mission High’s Ceilia Arrolas (20:50), Donna High’s Ivelle Valladarez (21:00) and Mission High’s Michelle Flores (21:18).

San Benito won the varsity boys team title with an impressive 28 points. The runner-up boys team was Brownsville Pace with 52 points.

Individually for the varsity boys, San Benito’s Joaquin Medina won in 17:32. Teammate Marco Salinas was second in 17:36. Rounding out the top five finishers were Brownsville Lopez’s Julian Juarez (17:42), Rivera’s Julian Tavares (17:42) and Rivera’s Juan Gavina (17:55).