ROY HESS | Staff Writer

It’s taken what seems like forever for District 32-6A volleyball to start, and now, it’s getting underway.

The six-team district begins at noon Saturday with Harlingen South at Los Fresnos, Brownsville Rivera at Brownsville Hanna and San Benito at Harlingen High.

The four playoff teams from one year ago were Los Fresnos, Hanna, Rivera and South, with the Lady Falcons edging Hanna for the district championship.

South staged a dramatic surge at the end of the 2018 regular season to make the postseason before knocking off District 31-6A champion Edinburg High in the bi-district playoffs.

While each of Saturday’s 32-6A matches holds importance, the South-Los Fresnos duel will be of particular interest.

Many of the 32-6A teams have played each other already in non-district matches and at tournaments since the season began Aug. 1. The Lady Falcons and Lady Hawks have yet to meet this season, so Saturday will be their first encounter.

South (20-3 overall) and Los Fresnos (25-8) are each coming off Tuesday’s open dates.

“We know this match is going to be a challenge, but we’re excited and ready to start district play,” Lady Hawks coach Anissa Lucio said.

The feeling is mutual on the Los Fresnos side.

“(Playing) Harlingen South is going to be a great, competitive match,” said Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods, who earlier this season eclipsed 700 wins for her coaching career at Los Fresnos. “I’m confident in my girls. We’ve had a great preseason, and we’re looking to repeat that district title run.”

Los Fresnos has strong hitters in Jasmin Garcia and Tate Halford, while South’s big hitters are Mikela Mireles and Mya Pearl Aguirre.

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 (31-1) is ranked fourth by the TGCA, while Los Fresnos (25-8) is back in the 6A rankings at 24th.

Two Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 9 Mission Veterans Memorial (26-5) and No. 17 Edcouch-Elsa (23-7).

The only other Valley team listed in the rankings this week is San Isidro (15-8), which is No. 21 in the Class 1A-2A poll.

32-5A STANDINGS

After two match dates, the standings in District 32-5A are Edcouch-Elsa (2-0), Brownsville Veterans Memorial (2-0), Mercedes (2-0), Donna High (1-1), Brownsville Lopez (1-1), Brownsville Porter (0-2), Brownsville Pace (0-2) and Valley View (0-2).

LOWER VALLEY TOP 5 RANKINGS

1. LOS FRESNOS

2. HARLINGEN SOUTH

3. BROWNSVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL

4. BROWNSVILLE RIVERA

5. BROWNSVILLE HANNA

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

If teams didn’t already know it, they’re quickly learning that every week is a challenge in the District 16-5A Division I football race.

Given that it’s a 10-team district and there’s a lot of parity involved, the games have been quite meaningful from the very start.

This week, two games in 16-5A Division I match conference unbeatens at 2-0 as Rio Grande City (3-0 overall) is at Mission Veterans Memorial (2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday and PSJA Southwest (3-0) visits Brownsville’s Sams Memorial Stadium to face Pace (2-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

From those matchups, two teams will emerge with 3-0 district records and hold the upper hand in the conference standings.

Pace has weathered the storm twice in defeating Porter (17-14) and Donna High (22-14) during its first two district contests. Now the Vikings face a PSJA Southwest team that favors the run and has gained wins against Donna High (28-14) and PSJA Memorial (41-14).

“PSJA Southwest is a good running team,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said. “They have a good fullback and a good quarterback. It’ll be a battle, just like every (district) game.

“The consensus seems to be that the top four or five teams (in our district) have a shot at the championship,” Pardo added. “It could be anybody. (Defending champion) Mission Veterans has looked the most impressive so far. It will be another challenge for us this week. We’ll have our hands full. Things are starting to heat up. We’ll see what happens.

“It’s not surprising, really. I kind of expected it to be a tight race all along (in 16-5A Division I).”

District 16-5A Division I starts things off this week at 7 p.m. today at Sams with Lopez (0-3, 0-2) playing Porter (1-2, 0-2) in the latest edition of the “Battle of Southmost” series. Lopez won 21-14 last year to lead the series 12-9. The Lobos have prevailed during each of the last three “Battle of Southmost” games.

The “Battle of Southmost” is The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week.

The only other Valley game on tap at 7 p.m. today is a non-conference matchup that finds Los Fresnos (1-2) at Edinburg Vela (2-1), which fell from No. 1 to No. 3 in the Valley rankings after losing 33-22 to new No. 1 McAllen Memorial (3-0) last week.

Other 16-5A Division I games scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Friday have Brownsville Veterans Memorial (2-1, 1-1) at PSJA Memorial (0-3, 0-2) and Donna High (1-2, 0-2) at La Joya Palmview (1-2, 1-1).

Brownsville Veterans is trying to bounce back after losing 42-21 at home to Mission Veterans last week.

“The key (for us) offensively is doing a better job in the pass game this week by protecting quarterback Liam Longoria, who when he has the adequate time to throw, is as good as there is throwing the ball down the field,” Chargers coach David Cantu said. “Also, establishing a more consistent run game will benefit our attack.

“Defensively, it’s critical to limit the big plays,” Cantu added. “Last week that was a struggle, and this week, we face another of the top athletes in our district in versatile athlete Michael Munoz, who will line up in different positions to try to create mismatches.”

No other Valley districts besides 16-5A Division I have started yet. Other conferences begin Sept. 26.

Non-district matchups involving Metro-area teams at 7:30 p.m. Friday find Sharyland Pioneer (2-1) vs. Rivera (1-2) at Sams, Hanna (1-2) at Sharyland High (2-1), St. Joseph Academy (2-1) at Raymondville (2-1) and La Feria (3-0) at Port Isabel (1-2).

Rivera snapped a 21-game losing streak with last week’s 32-0 win against Valley View at Brownsville Sports Park.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Defeating an opponent that is state-ranked and the defending District 32-5A champion was a little too much of a challenge for the Pace Lady Vikings on their home court Tuesday night.

The Edcouch-Elsa Lady Yellowjackets gained control early during the match and didn’t look back in winning 25-10, 25-18, 25-16.

E-E, coming off a three-set victory against Lopez on Saturday, improved to 2-0 in district. The Lady Yellowjackets, ranked No. 17 in Class 5A this week by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, improved to 23-7 on the season.

Pace slipped to 0-2 in district.

The Lady Yellowjackets were prepared for a tough match.

“We played five games with Pace, I think, both times (in district) last year, so I kept telling our girls to be ready,” E-E coach Gloria Trevino said. “Everyone in our district is trying to win that title. We were expecting at least five games from Pace tonight.

“We’re getting a little better and trying to run a quicker offense,” Trevino added. “Our defense is pretty sound, but of course they know their strengths and weaknesses on this team.”

Pace coach Pamela McCumber said Ana Cano, a setter/hitter, gave a strong effort for the Lady Vikings.

“Ana Cano did great,” McCumber said. “Edcouch did great defensively, and I thought a few times Ana got them to be on their toes.”

Pace never led during the first game as E-E won 25-10. Pace trailed 7-1 during the second set before battling back to tie it at 8, 9, 10, 12 and 18. From there, E-E scored the next seven straight points to take the second set 25-18.

During the third game, Pace led early 3-1 before the Lady Yellowjackets gained ties at 3, 4 and 9. From there, E-E went ahead for good 10-9 when the Lady Yellowjackets had a hit go off a Pace player and carry out.

E-E won the final point of the set and match when Pace couldn’t get the ball over the net on three hits.

Stat leaders for E-E included Endiya Devoe (seven kills, one ace, four digs), Arissa Cavazos (one kill, one assist, one ace, 26 digs), Sarah Flores (seven kills, 19 assists, one ace, seven digs), Bryanna Pena (three kills, five aces, seven digs), Meagan Acevedo (five kills, 13 assists, four aces, nine digs) and Veronica Elizondo (seven kills, three aces, seven digs).

On Saturday, Pace next plays Lopez. E-E next plays Donna High.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Hanna boys and Weslaco High girls came away with team championships at Saturday’s Brownsville ISD cross country meet at the BISD Encampment.

Each team won by a decisive margin.

The Hanna boys totaled 28 points in winning their title compared to 74 points for second-place Edinburg Economedes, 84 for third-place San Benito, 126 for fourth-place Brownsville Veterans Memorial and 134 for fifth-place Sharyland Pioneer.

The Weslaco High girls finished with 38 points to surpass second-place Brownsville Veterans with 55 points, third-place Economedes with 71, fourth-place Hanna with 73 and fifth-place Los Fresnos with 126.

“This was the first time we’ve won a meet this season,” Hanna coach Olaya Teran said of her boys squad. “We’ve had some finishes close to the top of the standings, but this was the first one we’ve won, so it was good.

“We ran really well today,” Teran added. “Obviously, we still have things to improve upon. We’re competing with San Benito (from our District 32-6A), and we haven’t seen Harlingen (High) yet, but we’ll see them next week at their meet. We still need a lot of work.”

The Hanna boys and girls are defending champions in 32-6A. The district meet is coming up Oct. 11 in Harlingen.

“We’ll be running the district course next week,” Teran said. “It’s a good, positive thing for our team (to win today) because that’s something our runners wanted to do. They wanted to win the BISD meet, because last year it was cancelled (due to bad weather). The year before (in 2017) we had won it, so we were really looking forward to running it this year (after the cancellation of 2018). Our runners are happy to win it today.”

Weslaco High coach Pablo Almaguer said his team was coming off an open date on its schedule, so Saturday’s team title for his girls was something quite satisfying.

“I was happy with our performance,” Almaguer said. “Coming off an off week, you wonder what kind of performance you’re going to have, so I was pretty happy with what we did today. We had a good week of practice.

“We’re trying to get ready for the bigger meets that are coming up,” Almaguer added. “Next week we’ll be in Corpus Christi (on the course where the regional meet will be staged) and then we’ll be in Round Rock (where the state meet takes place). We’re trying to get ready for those meets. Today we finished well, which should help us. We had been finishing second (at past meets) to a really good Sharyland (High) team.

“I was real proud of our performance and how our girls came through at this meet.”

One of the top performances Saturday by the Weslaco High girls was turned in by junior Amity Ebarb, who remained unbeaten this season by winning her fourth straight meet.

She took an early lead and won in 19 minutes, 29.2 seconds, which was five seconds better than runner-up Valeria Gamez of Brownsville Veterans (19:34.2).

“I feel great about the season, and I feel motivated for the future meets,” Ebarb said. “It’s great to have the team I have to push me along the way. It’s just amazing to be on this team.

“The race today was very good,” Ebarb added. “We had a lot of competition, and many of the runners were from our district (31-6A). It felt good to have those girls (from my district) there. I felt good about my race today.

“I just feel that I need to be focused (as the season enters the most important phase), and I want to be together with my team, so I can motivate my team and we can all push each other to do our best.”

Destinee Longoria, Ebarb’s teammate, finished third in 19:52.8. Porter’s Estrella Medellin was fourth in 20:13.2 and Hanna’s Brissa Stinson was fifth in 20:18.1.

The boys race was won by Mission High’s Felix Perez-Castillo in 16:00.2. His teammate, Rogelio Aguirre, took second in 16:11.8.

The next three finishers were all from Hanna. They were third-place John Abrego in 16:18.9, fourth-place Felipe Parra in 16:34.3 and fifth-place Marcos Tellez in 16:48.1.

The girls junior varsity team title was won by St. Joseph Academy with 48 points. Mission High captured the boys JV team title with 44 points.

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Porter Cowgirls started Saturday’s volleyball match on fire, but they weren’t quite as hot by the end.

Prior to the match at Porter, a fire alarm went off and everyone was ushered out of the gym and into the school’s parking lot.

It delayed the start of the match, but the Cowgirls still came out ready to play against Donna High in the teams’ District 32-5A opener.

Although Porter won the first game 25-18, the Bravettes prevailed in the next three sets 25-15, 27-25, 25-11 to take the match.

“Our girls did give a good effort, but we didn’t play as expected (especially at the end),” Cowgirls coach Tiffany Capistran said. “Our goal is to regroup and bring our competition to the court again before our next match.

“(We were sparked by) Katherine Salas, who had 13 kills, and that led our team,” Capistran added. “She pulled through for us when we needed her to.”

During Saturday’s opening set, the Cowgirls were ahead by as many as nine points, 14-5, thanks to an ace by Azaneth Perez. Back-to-back hits into the net by the Bravettes on the last two points of the set enabled Porter to win the opening game 25-18.

After a tie at 11 during the second game, Donna High surged ahead and scored 14 of the next 18 points. A hit into the net by Porter gave the Bravettes the win in the second game 25-16.

The third game was the most evenly contested set of the match. There were six ties, including the last one at 25, which came about due to a Donna High serve into the net. From there, the Cowgirls had a block carry out to put the Bravettes up 26-25, and then a well-placed tip by Donna High’s Caitlin Lopez won the third game 27-25.

The Cowgirls didn’t recover from the third-game setback and fell behind 13-2, 19-7 and 23-10 en route to dropping the fourth set 25-11.

“I think we were pretty evenly matched up today with Porter,” Bravettes coach Cynthia Viesca said. “Porter came out really strong. We were kind of down in the beginning, but I told my girls, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ We woke up, and we were able to pull off the win.

“It was the first district match, and you always want that win,” Viesca added. “It just feels good to open district with a victory.”

Stat leaders for Donna High were Claire Garcia (nine kills, four blocks), Chloe Molina (eight kills, two blocks), Brianna Caldwell (eight kills, two blocks), Ivette Valladares (four aces) and Ashley Rodriguez (37 digs).

Donna High next plays host to Brownsville Veterans Memorial on Tuesday. The same night, Porter is at Mercedes.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS — The Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets prevailed in an old-fashioned shootout with the Los Fresnos Falcons to capture their first victory of the season 41-28 on Friday night at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.

The E-E victory came on the night Los Fresnos celebrated homecoming.

The Yellowjackets improved to 1-2 with the non-district win. Los Fresnos fell to 1-2.

A 16-yard scoring run by Los Fresnos’ Chris Resendiz with 11:56 showing in the fourth quarter brought the Falcons to within 35-28 of the Yellowjackets’ lead.

E-E responded by going up 41-28 with 1:55 left when Shawn Alvarado burst 11 yards up the middle to the end zone.

The extra point failed but the Yellowjackets were still ahead by 13 points, and their fans began to start celebrating.

“This win feels amazing,” E-E quarterback Michael Rodriguez said. “We worked hard (in practice) all week long, and we deserved it. We’re going to keep going now. We’ll keep going until it’s all over, and we won’t stop.

“We made some mistakes here and there tonight, but our team kept going,” Rodriguez added. “We kept pushing (for the win). We all worked together and we got it.

“I’d just like to say that we’re back.”

There were five touchdowns scored during the opening quarter, and E-E was up 21-14 by the end of the period.

Alvarado scampered 45 yards to the end zone on a wingback reverse around left end on the sixth play of the game to make it 6-0 after a missed extra point.

Hector Muniz’s 84-yard return for a Los Fresnos touchdown on the ensuing kickoff gave the Falcons the lead, 7-6.

Alvarado’s 2-yard scoring run at the 4:26 mark of the first quarter restored the lead for E-E at 14-7 following a successful two-point conversion run.

The Yellowjackets went up 21-7 with 2:28 to go in the first period when Rodriguez threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Jesse Contreras.

Los Fresnos QB Matthew Padilla scrambled 51 yards for the Falcons’ second TD with 0:23 remaining on the scoreboard in the initial period to make it 21-14.

During the second quarter, Edward Cardoza’s 1-yard TD run upped the E-E lead to 28-14 with 8:14 to go before halftime. That’s the way the score stayed at the break.

Los Fresnos came close again, 28-21, at the 11:07 mark of the third quarter when Padilla tossed a 62-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Nico Valencia on a down-the-middle pattern.

Cardoza’s 5-yard TD run with 6:43 remaining in the third period put E-E ahead 35-21.

The Falcons again came within seven points, 35-28, thanks to Resendiz’s 16-yard scoring run on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Yellowjackets were determined to win.

Alvarado’s sprint up the middle from 11 yards out with 1:55 left sealed the victory. It was Alvarado’s third TD of the night.

Los Fresnos was coming off last week’s 14-6 setback at home against Austin LBJ. E-E suffered a 45-35 loss last week at home against Weslaco High.

When the two teams played one year ago in Elsa, the Falcons prevailed 42-13.

Non-district action continues for each squad next week. Los Fresnos is at Edinburg Vela on Thursday, and E-E is at Edinburg North on Friday.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

There are those occasions when a one-time player gets the better of her former coach.

It happened Tuesday in volleyball when Elizabeth Mares’ Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers prevailed over the Rivera Lady Raiders coached by Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra, now in her 27th season at her school.

The two teams played an ever-so-close, back-and-forth non-district match at Brownsville Veterans that was won by the Lady Chargers 26-24, 25-23, 15-25, 26-24.

Mares played for Avelar-Guerra before graduating from Rivera in 1999. Mares later coached as an assistant for “Coach Ave” before beginning her own head coaching career.

The Lady Chargers coach said her coaching abilities have been compared to Avelar-Guerra’s, and she considers that a compliment.

“ I know her mentality, and a lot of people say we coach alike,” Mares said. “I think I learned a lot from her, and I like to (emulate) her because she’s a great coach. When they compare me to her, it’s a good thing.

“ I think our teams are very similar when it comes to playing defense,” Mares added. “I knew it was going to be a battle playing Rivera.”

Avelar-Guerra is equally complimentary of Mares.

“ She’s a very good coach, and she’s doing a great job,” “Coach Ave” said. “It’s tough playing her teams.”

Tuesday’s victory was a confidence booster for Brownsville Veterans, which begins District 32-5A competition at home against Pace at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Rivera continues non-district action at home against St. Joseph Academy at noon Saturday before beginning District 32-6A competition against Hanna on Sept. 21.

LIONETTES ON RISE

La Feria has dominated District 32-4A volleyball for quite some time, having captured the last three conference championships.

In the quest for another 32-4A title, the Lionettes got off to a successful start in district on Tuesday by defeating Progreso 25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 26-18.

“ We have a good mix with a few returning players and some newcomers this season,” said Rebea Fraga, who is in her 31st season as La Feria’s coach. “What I like is we have team chemistry and the girls are working well together.

“ We took our lumps during the non-district schedule, and we’re putting it together now that district is here,” added Fraga, who estimates her teams have made the playoffs 28 or 29 times out of the past 30 seasons. “I want the girls to understand and accept their roles and also trust each other.

“ Our district is especially competitive this year. It’s going to be tough because it’s very even.”

The Lionettes’ captain is Sierra Salinas, a senior outside hitter and three-year letterman. Other seniors with varsity experience are Jeno Ochoa, a middle blocker, and Gabby Beltran, a defensive specialist.

Yet another senior is Aalyah Stewart, a middle blocker/right side hitter, who is injured. The Lionettes hope she can return and play, but it is not certain, Fraga said.

There’s a promising group of juniors for La Feria that include setters Reann Fraga and Ayisha Castillo, outside hitter Sophia Cabrera and libero Sabrina Castaneda. Another player in the mix is Alani Garza, a sophomore middle blocker.

District action continues for the Lionettes at 1 p.m. Saturday at Port Isabel.

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 (19-1) is ranked fifth by the TGCA, while three Valley teams are listed in the Class 5A rankings. They are No. 10 Mission Veterans Memorial (24-5), No. 21 Edcouch-Elsa (18-6) and No. 24 Brownsville Veterans Memorial (16-6).

The only other Valley team listed in the rankings is San Isidro (14-7), which is No. 20 in the Class 1A-2A poll.

LOWER VALLEY

TOP 5 RANKINGS

1. LOS FRESNOS

2. HARLINGEN SOUTH

3. BROWNSVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL

4. BROWNSVILLE RIVERA

5. BROWNSVILLE HANNA

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE — The Mission Veterans Memorial Patriots showed they have every intention of defending their District 16-5A Division I championship from last season.

Actually, they’re going for a third straight conference crown in 2019.

The Patriots rallied from a 14-7 first-quarter deficit against Brownsville Veterans Memorial to defeat the Chargers 42-21 Thursday at Sams Memorial Stadium.

The rally from being down 14-7 enabled Mission Veterans to lead 35-14 at halftime.

The Patriots improved to 2-1 on the season and 2-0 in district.

The Chargers suffered their first loss of the season and are now 2-1 overall. They slipped to 1-1 in district.

“This win gives us the drive to do well next week (and continue winning),” said Mission Veterans sophomore quarterback Ricky Reyna, who threw four touchdown passes against the Chargers and is replacing graduated all-everything QB Landry Gilpin. “We want to keep on doing better every week.

“We had a big momentum changer (with a kickoff return for a TD late in the first quarter to pull even at 14-14),” Reyna added. “We have some playmakers on our team, and our defense came out strong. We had a lot of guys help us win tonight.”

It all started going south for Brownsville Veterans when the Patriots’ Mike Gonzalez returned a kickoff 79 yards down the right sideline to even the score at 14-14 after Nestor Reyna’s kick with four seconds left in the opening period.

Brownsville Veterans had just scored on a 14-yard run by Marlon Montelongo with 0:16 showing in the quarter to put the Chargers up 14-7 after Pablo Perez’s kick.

Earlier, with 8:53 showing in the first quarter, Brownsville Veterans’ Mauricio Garza was on the receiving end of a 72-yard scoring pass from QB Liam Longoria to create a 7-7 deadlock.

Whatever momentum the Chargers had during the opening quarter quickly disappeared as the Patriots started their scoring spree.

Mission Veterans coach David Gilpin said his team played “Patriot Football” Thursday night.

“I know talking about playing ‘Patriot Football’ is cliche because a lot of teams talk about playing ‘Charger Football’ or ‘Redskin Football’ or whatever,” Gilpin said. “We do the same thing, but we define what ‘Patriot Football’ is. ‘Patriot Football’ to us is to be explosive on offense. We’re going to move the ball up and down the field and put points on the scoreboard.

“That’s what we do, plus we play physical on defense,” Gilpin added. “That’s what we did tonight. Our boys came out and played very well.”

A 21-point outburst by the Patriots during the second quarter made it 35-14 at intermission.

At the 9:22 mark of the second quarter, the Patriots’ Mike Gonzaque caught his second of three TD passes from Ricky Reyna on the night — a 14-yarder — to put his team ahead for good at 21-14.

Gonzaque’s first TD reception came during the opening period with 9:37 showing on a 42-yard scoring pass from Ricky Reyna that gave the Patriots a 7-0 edge.

It became 28-14 for the Patriots with 6:41 to go before halftime when Mike Rodriguez recovered a fumble by Longoria in the end zone.

The Patriots marched down the field and scored their third TD of the second period to account for a 21-point advantage, 35-14, at intermission. Even though only one second was left in the half, Ricky Reyna hooked up with Gonzaque on a 23-yard scoring completion in the end zone. Gonzaque made the catch between two defenders with no time on the clock, and the Patriots were on their way to a surprisingly decisive victory.

Longoria scored on a 4-yard run with 4:18 to play in the third period as the Chargers pulled to within 35-21.

But the Patriots weren’t done. They made it 42-21 with 7:41 remaining in the game when Ricky Reyna tossed a 7-yard scoring strike — his fourth of the night — to Allen Vazquez to seal the victory.

Mission Veterans is at home against Rio Grande City next Friday, while Brownsville Veterans is at PSJA Memorial the same night.

The Patriots defeated the Chargers 45-24 last year in Mission.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Brownsville Veterans Lady Chargers picked up a confidence-building victory going into district as they defeated the Rivera Lady Raiders 26-24, 25-23, 15-25, 26-24 on Tuesday during an evenly contested, back-and-forth, non-district volleyball match on the Brownsville Veterans court.

“I told our girls they had to keep fighting (after we lost the third game decisively),” Lady Chargers coach Elizabeth Mares said. “I don’t know if they were thinking they won the first two games and that was good enough or what. They just kind of took it easy (during the third set). I don’t know what happened.

“I told them, ‘Rivera is a fighting team. They’re going to fight to the end,’” Mares added. “I know Rivera (because I graduated from there and played volleyball there). I told the girls, ‘This is our house, and right now you need to fight. Fight for yourselves, your fans, and show me you have that fight in you.”

The Lady Chargers responded by rallying from three-point deficits of 22-19, 23-20 and 24-21 during the fourth set to take the game 26-24 and win the non-district match when Rivera hit a ball long on the final point.

The Lady Chargers open District 32-5A competition at 4 p.m. Saturday at home against Pace. Rivera is at home for a non-district match against St. Joseph Academy at noon Saturday. The Lady Raiders open District 32-6A action Sept. 21.

Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said Brownsville Veterans played a little more consistently than her squad, and that was the difference.

“It was a good match, and both teams played really well,” the Rivera coach said. “The only thing was we got tight at the end, and we didn’t finish it. We got tight, and we were scrambling most of the time there at the end. The pass was there and our biggest hitter (Kenya Ibarra) was right there on the outside, but we didn’t make the pass (to set up a kill) and finish (the fourth game to send the match to a deciding fifth set).

“We made some bad decisions, the other team played well,” she added. “They played together and made better decisions than we did tonight. They just played a little smarter than we did.”

The opening game featured 12 ties, the last at 24, and was won 26-24 by the Lady Chargers after the set-winning point came on a hit by the Lady Raiders that carried just beyond the back line.

Back-to-back kills by the Lady Chargers’ Dominique Mena on the last two points of the second set after a tie at 23 enabled Brownsville Veterans to win that game 25-23.

After a tie at 1, the Lady Raiders led the rest of the way during the third game. A Brownsville Veterans serve into the net on the final point of the set gave Rivera a 25-15 victory.

There were 12 ties during the fourth game, the last of which came at 24, just a few minutes after the Lady Chargers trailed by three points at 22-19, 23-20 and 24-21.

Brownsville Veterans wouldn’t be denied as the Lady Chargers sent a ball over the net on a tip that wasn’t returned to go up 25-24. Then, a hit too long by Rivera ended the match with the Lady Chargers on top 26-24 in the fourth set.

Brownsville Veterans overcame a remarkable 45-kill performance by Rivera’s Ibarra, a sophomore middle blocker. Ibarra also had 13 digs and four blocks. Other stat standouts for the Lady Raiders were Christina Garza (14 kills, 10 digs, one ace), Richelle Guerra (37 digs, three kills), Clarissa Olivares (43 assists, 13 digs) and Alondra Guzman (17 digs, one ace).

For Brownsville Veterans, the stat leaders were Mena (23 kills, 21 digs, two aces), Alex Parchmont (52 digs), Monica Garcia (seven kills, two aces) and Daniela Espinosa (24 assists, eight digs, two aces).

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE — Thanks to a strong finish, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks prevailed over the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers 25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23 in non-district volleyball action Saturday at the Brownsville Veterans gym.

It was a good test for each team prior to district.

District 32-5A starts next Saturday for Brownsville Veterans (16-7). District 32-6A begins for South (18-3) on Sept. 21.

Lady Hawks coach Anissa Lucio said it was beneficial for her players to face the challenge the Lady Chargers presented during the non-district match, especially with 32-6A competition coming up in two weeks.

“It was a tough match, but our girls pulled through,” Lucio said. “We found a way to fight our way through the match, so I’m proud of our girls for finishing strong.

“Brownsville Veterans is a good team,” Lucio added. “We have a tough non-conference schedule with some tough non-district matches. This was one of them. I’m just glad we pulled through and answered back to a strong team.”

Even though Brownsville Veterans coach Elizabeth Mares was pleased with some of her team’s performance against the Lady Hawks, she said the Lady Chargers could have done better in other areas.

“I told the girls that I was glad we went through a match like this one,” Mares said. “South did a good job playing defense, but we made too many errors on our behalf. I felt we kind of beat ourselves because of all the errors on our side. Of course, I give credit to Harlingen South for playing their game.

“I thought we did a good job of adjusting on defense,” Mares added. “My offense just didn’t come around, though. I felt we lacked mental toughness today. That’s something we definitely need to work on.

“It’s good we have three tough (non-district) matches right before district starts. We played PSJA High (and won) last Tuesday, then we had South today, and now we go against Rivera on Tuesday. Those are three tough matches in a row. It really shows us what we need to work on going into district.”

The Lady Hawks quickly realized they had a strong challenge to overcome against the Lady Chargers. During the first game, South fell behind by as many as eight points twice, 14-6 and 15-7, before rallying to take the opening set 25-21 when Brownsville Veterans hit into the net.

It was the Lady Chargers’ turn to win a close set during the second game. Brownsville Veterans didn’t squander its eight-point advantage of 22-14 on an ace by Rebekah Rodriguez. Brownsville Veterans took the second game 25-23 on a hit by South that went out.

The Lady Hawks responded by never trailing and winning the third game handily, 25-15.

The fourth set was closely contested with ties at 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 21 and 22. A hitting miscue by the Lady Chargers carried out to put South ahead 23-22, and the Lady Hawks never trailed afterward.

The teams traded points on self-inflicted hitting errors to make it 24-23 for South. From there, a strong hit by South’s Mikela Mireles carried off a Brownsville Veterans player and went out, allowing the Lady Hawks to take the fourth game 25-23 and win the match.

It was another strong performance by Mireles, who had a team-high 27 kills along with 33 digs. Also for South, other standouts were Mya Pearl Aguirre (20 kills, 22 digs, 20 assists), Alexa Encinia (24 assists, 26 digs), Korynne Reininger (three kills, five digs), Allyah Guevara (3 kills, 23 digs), Zoe Garcia (51 digs) and Evelyn Yanez (59 digs).

For Brownsville Veterans, the stat leaders were Dominique Mena (19 kills, two aces, 43 digs), Alex Parchmont (47 digs), Monica Garcia (11 kills), Daniela Espinosa (21 assists, 13 digs) and Rodriguez (15 assists, 23 digs).

Non-district action continues Tuesday for both teams. Brownsville Veterans plays host to Rivera, and South is at home against McAllen Rowe.