By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Winning the St. Joseph Academy Volleyball Tournament is getting to be a healthy habit for the Jubilee Brownsville Lady Titans.

Jubilee captured the tournament championship for the second straight year with Saturday’s 25-16, 25-22 victory in the title match over the host Lady Bloodhounds.

It was also the second consecutive weekend for the Lady Titans to win a tournament. They were champions of the Hebbronville Tournament last weekend.

Also, Jubilee’s Valentina Tijerina, a junior outside hitter, was named tournament MVP for the second straight weekend.

The was all smiles after Saturday’s championship win. She was a leader in kills for her team.

“We practice a lot, so this feels very good,” Tijerina said. “We were intelligent when we played, and that was the difference. It was a key factor. Winning this tournament makes us confident.

“We’re showing that kids should practice a lot and follow their dreams,” Tijerina added.

Jubilee improved to 12-3 on the season. They next open District 32-4A play at home against Brownsville IDEA Frontier on Friday.

Rebecca Perez is in her first year as the Lady Titans’ coach. She knows she has a strong group of players.

“We came out of a (tournament) win last weekend in Hebbronville, so winning two tournaments in a row out of our three tournaments feels really good going into our district opener,” Perez said. “Our attitude was really well today and our team was communicating very well. We’ve been playing a lot of volleyball the past few weeks, but our girls had a late start (for our matches) today, and that helped.

“We had very few mistakes and the girls worked well as a team today, so credit goes to them,” Perez added. “We’re going straight into district now, so this tournament win is good to carry us in.”

The score was close at 13-11, 14-12 and 15-13 in favor of Jubilee in the opening game. The Lady Titans soon pulled away and led 20-13 thanks in part to back-to-back aces by Fernanda Bannak. Tijerina added an ace to make it 23-14 before teammate Daniella Bannak won the first set 25-16 for Jubilee on a tip.

The Lady Bloodhounds showed more life during the second game. They took a three-point lead, 16-13, on a kill by Mildred Verlage before the Lady Titans battled back to tie the score at 17. From there, Jubilee went ahead for good and won the second set 25-22 to take the match on a tip by Alondra Garcia. Her winning-point came one point after a kill by SJA’s Ally Stachowiak had pulled the Lady Bloodhounds to within 24-22.

“I don’t think we played well,” SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said. “There were a few moments in the second set when we looked really good, but overall, we didn’t play to our potential. Our passing was bad and our serving was really bad. We had too many missed serves, and that made a big difference for us.

“Jubilee just played a lot more consistently than we did,” Olguin-Trevino added. “We got third place last year (in the first year of the tournament), and we got second place this year. Let’s set what we can do next year.

“I think the tournament went well. I believe the teams that came competed well. We were second, so we can’t feel all that good about ourselves because you always want to finish at the top. I think if I can get my players to really focus on their serving and focus on receiving services, we’re going to be fine.”

The Lady Bloodhounds finished the day with an 8-4 record. They next play host to Santa Maria at 7 p.m. Tuesday for a non-district match.

Earlier in the day, Jubilee defeated Pace 25-13, 22-25, 16-14 in the semifinals, while SJA downed Lyford 25-17, 25-16 in the other semifinal.

Pace won the third-place match with a 25-18, 25-14 victory against Lyford.

San Isidro captured the consolation championship with a 25-20, 25-21 win against Santa Rosa.

“We tried a new rotation in this tournament, and I think it will help us as we go into District (32-5A starting Sept. 14),” Pace coach Pamela McCumber said. “The girls did well with our new ideas and improvements, and they adjusted just fine.”

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Regardless of the sport, all teams face challenges, and that includes the St. Joseph Academy Lady Bloodhounds in volleyball.

Although the season has just started, the Lady Bloodhounds already have lost three players who transferred to a public school, plus another player who quit the team. Three of the four players where being counted upon as starters, so those moves have impacted the squad.

But the Lady Bloodhounds seem to be responding in a positive way. They are the hosts of a two-day, 12-team tournament on the SJA campus this weekend. Things went well for the Lady Bloodhounds as they won their tournament opener Friday against Santa Rosa 25-11, 25-20.

After defeating Santa Rosa, the Lady Bloodhounds advanced to play La Villa and won again, 26-25, 25-10.

“Right now, we’re still trying to mesh as a team after losing the players we lost,” SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said. “For the most part, I think, we’ve adjusted. The players that needed to step up are stepping up. We still struggle (at times). On the court I have two seniors, three sophomores and one freshman, and at times a junior.

“These girls are learning to adjust,” Olguin-Trevino added. “They’re troopers. They’re not going to put their heads down and pout (if adverse things happen). They’re just going to move forward, and that’s the only thing I can ask of them. I tell them, ‘Just give me 100 percent and do your best every time.’ If they can do that, they can do great things.”

One of the two starting seniors is Victoria Gonzalez. The other is Ally Stachowiak.

“I think we’re doing really well considering who we lost,” Gonzalez said. “We lost people who were important to the team and who were people who had been here since we first started the team, but I think we’re doing well. We’re doing our best and we’re still winning, and we just have to keep going.”

Added Stachowiak, a tall middle blocker who is a leader in kills for the team, “It was kind of tough having those players leave. One of them was our setter and another one was a really good hitter. But I think we’ve done really well. Our new setter Elise (Esparza, a freshman) is doing a very good job. I think it’s just made us closer.

“I think we have a lot of potential and we’re going to make it to the (TAPPS) playoffs,” Stachowiak added. “I think it’s going to be a good season.”

Other first-round results Friday included Brownsville Jubilee over San Isidro 25-22, 25-16; Brownsville Pace over Santa Maria 25-7, 26-24; and San Perlita over Port Isabel 25-4, 25-9. A second-round result saw Pace defeat Edinburg IDEA Quest 25-15, 25-10.

Brownsville Jubilee is the defending champion of the 2nd annual SJA Tournament.

The championship match is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. today at SJA.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Porter Cowboys came alive during two quarters of game conditions to defeat the St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds in Thursday’s scrimmage at Porter.

The two teams each went scoreless during the controlled portion of the scrimmage before the Cowboys tallied a pair of touchdowns after halftime while shutting out the Bloodhounds.

“To be honest, we started off a little slow,” Porter coach Carlos Uresti said. “No excuses for that. We came out in the live portion (of the scrimmage) and showed a little more heart and played a little stronger, and it showed. We had a good showing at the end.”

Porter running back Joey Saldana broke loose and sprinted 68 yards down the left sideline on the first play of the second half to give the Cowboys a first down at the SJA 2-yard line. Two plays later, Porter quarterback Kevin Garcia went 2 yards up the middle for Porter’s first score.

Then, with time in the fourth quarter winding down, Porter scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass from sophomore QB Kyle Aguirre to freshman receiver Gunnar Williams. It was a deep pass caught in the right corner of the end zone by Williams as the time ran out on the scoreboard clock.

Throughout the scrimmage, SJA moved the ball at times and had some standout moments on defense, but just couldn’t manage to put a score on the scoreboard.

“We knew coming into tonight that Porter was going to bring a heavy blitz, and we were going to see how we responded,” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “We didn’t respond as well as we would have hoped to Porter’s blitz. They found a weakness in what we’re doing, and that’s something we have to work on if we want to move the football. Porter is doing a good job of being more physical and more aggressive, and they won the physical battle up front against us today. That was a difference-maker for them.

“We’re young and we’re trying to work on our upbeat tempo,” Villarreal added. “That’s the name our our game, and today unfortunately, we were one block away and one holding call away from keeping drives alive. We call those things ‘drive killers,’ and we just had too many of those ‘drive killers’ today to sustain our drives.

“But overall, I’m proud of the effort our team showed today, and these guys have been showing that type of effort since the first day of two-a-days. Nights like tonight don’t stop our boys from having a great attitude. We’re preparing for what’s ahead.”

Although it didn’t count, the Bloodhounds had a pick-six interception during the controlled portion of the scrimmage. Aguirre threw a pass into the left flat that was picked off by SJA’s Alejandro Padilla. Since the interception came during the first-half controlled conditions, the refs immediately blew their whistles after the pick, but Padilla still returned it untouched down the sideline and into the end zone.

Uresti said his team is also gearing up for the regular season.

“I was telling our players that these scrimmages are glorified practices and they help us get ready for the season,” the Porter coach said. “The games count now, and it’s time to really get to work. The scrimmages are great, but now the games count, and it starts (next) Friday with Port Isabel.

The Cowboys open the regular season against Port Isabel next Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium. The Bloodhounds begin the regular season at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Canales Field against Grulla.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE— The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers took advantage of San Benito’s patchwork lineup due to injuries to sweep the Lady Greyhounds in non-district volleyball action Tuesday at the Brownsville Veterans gym.

The scores were 25-13, 25-15, 27-25.

Missing four players, the Lady Greyhounds had only seven players available to play against the Lady Chargers.

The Lady Chargers also were missing a player, who was in the hospital, so the healthiest team was the one that prevailed.

“We have a lot of new faces,” said Lady Chargers coach Elizabeth Mares, whose squad was the runner-up finisher in District 32-5A last season. “I’m trying different rotations right now to see who will step up because it’s still real early in the season. I’m just trying to figure out who is going to do the job in certain places for us.”

San Benito couldn’t stay with the Lady Chargers during the first two games. But the Lady Greyhounds showed their resolve during the third set by going up 5-1 and 6-2 before allowing Brownsville Veterans to come alive and lead by seven points, 22-15, on a ball that sailed long for San Benito.

The Lady Greyhounds battled back to tie the score at 24 on an ace by Cidney Castillo and at 25 on a tip by Ysabel Soria. From there, a San Benito serve that carried out and a hit into the net by the Lady Greyhounds enabled the Lady Chargers to win the last game 27-25 and sweep the match.

“(Because of our injuries) we just put whoever we could out there (on the court),” San Benito coach Rudy Medina said. “In the beginning, there was some hesitation (by our girls) because they’re not used to playing with so many people out.

“They adjusted and did better in the third set,” Medina added. “I really didn’t have any substitutions (to call upon). At first, some of the girls were trying to find their places on the court because they usually don’t play as much as they did tonight.”

Soria led San Benito with eight kills, while teammate Devaney Castillo added five kills and three aces. Also for the Lady Greyhounds, Zoe Betancourt had four kills and five blocks.

For Brownsville Veterans, Hannah Edelstein had five aces and three kills. Also for the Lady Chargers, Valeria Sumaya had eight kills, and Dominique Mena had seven kills and six digs. Also for the Lady Chargers, Sarah Gomez had three aces and five digs, and Daniela Espinosa had 11 assists and five digs.

“I have all my defense coming back, so I think that’s a solid point for us,” Mares said. “The offensive aspect of the game is something I think we need to continue to work on because the defense is there from last year, which is good for us. We’re solid there, and hopefully that continues.”

San Benito and Brownsville Veterans next will be playing at the Sharyland High Tournament that starts Thursday and runs through Saturday.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE — Rio Hondo may have graduated a strong group of athletes from last year’s football team, but the Bobcats appear to be well on the way to having another successful season with some newcomers in the lineup.

One of the newcomers is sophomore quarterback Zachariah Rios, who seems to be making himself feel right at home as the team’s starting signal caller.

Rios threw six touchdowns during the Bobcats’ three possessions of controlled scrimmage play Friday at Brownsville Lopez. The Bobcats won the scrimmage 8-0 against the Lobos.

“ We did a great job tonight on both sides of the ball,” Rio Hondo coach Rocky James said. “Defensively, we hustled to the ball and we shut Lopez down. I thought we did a great job against the pass. We really did a good job overall by stopping the pass and stopping the run. Our guys came out with a great attitude, and it showed.

“ Offensively, I think we picked up right where we left off the last two or three years,” James added. “Zachariah Rios is a sophomore who can throw the ball to players like Ismael Rodriguez, who is also a sophomore. I believe they hooked up three or four times tonight for touchdowns.

“ We always seem to graduate an average of 23 players or so. I’ve got six sophomores starting on our football team right now. They were the ones scoring. The QB is a sophomore, the receiver is a sophomore and we have a running back who is a sophomore. I’ve got a good, young group of players. Zachariah is an outstanding athlete who plays a lot of sports. He’s a really good football player.”

Rios’ TD passes came on plays covering 20, 30, 15, 14, 18 and 72 yards.

Besides Rodriguez catching TD passes, the other receivers to haul in a scoring pass were Jona Ortega, Ethan Reyna, Humberto Barrera and Joey Ortega.

Also for the Bobcats, running back Fabian Torres scored on runs of 75 and 20 yards.

“ I’m really proud of our team,” James said. “We came out and really took care of business. I know it’s our first scrimmage, but it seems a little promising when you come out and dominate a football game, and I thought we did that tonight.”

The Bobcats scrimmage again at 6:30 p.m. next Friday at Lyford.

Lopez coach Armando Gutierrez said his team just needs to continue to work hard to improve.

“ We’re a young team and we’re learning how to play as a unit,” Gutierrez said. “We will only get better with every snap.”

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

At this point of the young volleyball season, teams are looking for improvement as they draw closer to district competition.

Getting better was on the minds of the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles and the Pace Lady Vikings during their non-district match Tuesday at Pace.

Practice just began for the state’s UIL teams Aug. 1, so very few squads are playing at what they consider a high level right now.

Along with showing improvement, winning is also nice, too.

The Hanna girls came away from Tuesday’s match feeling pretty good about themselves after capturing a 25-23, 25-23, 25-20 victory on the Lady Vikings’ court.

“I like that all of us try hard and we’re all hustling,” said Hanna’s Odalys Gonzalez, a 5-foot-11 senior middle blocker who is one of the few experienced returning starters playing for the Lady Eagles right now as they await the return of two other experienced players who are injured. “We lost a lot of seniors from last year, and we have a lot of young girls who really haven’t played at the varsity level.

“Our young girls are getting used to the varsity, and I’m pretty sure by the end of our non-district schedule they’ll be good,” added Gonzalez, who was The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro MVP last season as a junior. “Since we don’t have a lot of front-row players, we have to make up for it with defense (and we are). I like the way everyone hustles and tries their best. That’s what we need to do when we’re missing players.

“I’m just very excited for my senior year. I want everyone on our team to try their best and have fun doing it. I hope we have a successful season. I know (District 32-6A) is going to be very hard, but I also know we can make the playoffs again for, like, the 11th year in a row. I know we can do it.”

Gonzalez led the way for the Lady Eagles with a double-digit total of kills along with several key blocks. Teammate Joanna Garza added some timely kills as well.

Ashley Nicole Gonzalez recorded some kills for Pace.

“We have a very young lineup, and they are improving,” said Lady Eagles coach Ansgar Hagemann, whose girls won the Bronze Bracket at last weekend’s Poundfest Tournament in McAllen. “We are still expecting some girls to come back, and we may get two of them next week. We’ll continue to improve with them.

“Going to the varsity level is hard in all respects,” he added. “The young ones are filling the slots of ones that aren’t in the lineup right now, and they’re doing a great job.”

Pace led 4-0 and 8-5 during the first game before Hanna battled back. From there, the score was tied 10 times, including the final deadlock of the opening game, which came at 22 when the Lady Vikings hit into the net.

Back-to-back kills by Odalys Gonzalez put Hanna ahead 24-22. A tip by Pace made it 24-23. The Lady Vikings served long on the next point to give Hanna the opening game 25-23.

After a deadlock at 7 during the second game, the Lady Vikings had to battle from behind the rest of the way in the set. Hanna was up by as many as six points, 20-14, during the second game thanks to a Pace hit that sailed too long.

The Lady Vikings pulled within one point, 24-23, when Hanna had a hitting miscue that carried out, but the Lady Eagles won the second game 25-23 when Odalys Gonzalez’s tip was hit into the net by the Lady Vikings.

Pace was ahead 6-1 on a tip by Renatta Cano during the third set before Hanna fought back and tied the score at 7, 8 and 9. A serving ace by Garza gave Hanna the lead for good at 10-9. A Pace hit that carried too long on the last point allowed the Lady Eagles to secure the third game 25-20 and sweep the match.

Despite the setback, Lady Vikings coach Paula McCumber said her team is getting better with each outing.

“I think there’s been a lot of improvement,” said McCumber, who has four starters back from last season. “The girls are working hard during practice, and it’s showing in our matches. Step by step we’re setting little goals, and the progress is there. I think the amount of work our girls are putting in shows they want to win. They came (to workouts) all summer.

“I know we’re going to progress,” McCumber added. “We’ll slowly get there.”

Both teams are playing in tournaments later this week. Pace is at the Mission High Tournament and Hanna is at Port Isabel’s Volley at the Beach Tournament.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

DONNA — Winning the Donna Tournament on Saturday said a lot about the character, determination and resilience of the Harlingen South volleyball team.

It also said quite a bit about the competitiveness of runner-up Edcouch-Elsa.

The teams in Saturday’s title match battled evenly most of the way and brought out the best in each other to make it a final to remember.

South prevailed over E-E 25-16, 28-30, 15-13 to increase its record to 8-0. The Lady Yellowjackets are 5-2 after the tournament.

While the Lady Hawks at one point early on may have thought the final would a relatively easy two-set sweep after taking the first game handily, the Lady Yellowjackets were just getting warmed up and soon gave the South girls all the match they wanted.

“ It was a very tough match,” said South’s Mikela Mireles, a senior 5-foot-9 hitter/back row player who was named the tournament MVP. “They tested us, and we really hadn’t been tested before. I’m super proud of my team and how we finished strong to get the win.

“ Winning this tournament definitely gives us a lot more confidence than what we had before,” added Mireles, who led her team with 19 kills to go with 19 digs and two blocks. “This just puts another championship on our backs as we go further into the season.

“ It was a defensive match and also a match of errors, because whoever made the least amount of errors was going to be the team to win, and I guess that was us. We were the ones to come out on top. I’m just super proud of my team. We had one of our players out with an injury. I’m proud of how we played without her.”

South setter Mya Pearl Aguirre, an all-district performer from last season, sat out most of the tournament with an ankle injury and is expected to possibly return as soon as Tuesday when South plays a non-district match at Sharyland High.

Prior to the start of the UIL season Aug. 1, the South girls won the Highway 83 Summer League championship.

South coach Anissa Lucio said the Lady Yellowjackets are always a difficult opponent to go against.

“ We knew Edcouch-Elsa is a great ball-control team,” Lucio said. “We knew that we were going to have to earn our points. It was a tough, exhausting match. I’m really proud of our girls.

“ Without Mya, who was hurt Thursday, it’s hard,” Lucio added. “I’m very pleased with how the girls stepped up. They adapted to the changes in the lineup we made.

“ Winning this tournament is huge for our team. This is something our girls have always wanted and worked for all offseason. This is a very special group, and they deserve this.”

Earlier Saturday, to get to the final, South defeated Brownsville Jubilee 25-18, 25-18 in the quarterfinals and Mission High 25-15, 25-20 in the semifinals.

E-E defeated San Benito 25-12, 25-13 in the quarterfinals and Laredo Martin 25-16, 25-16 in the semifinals.

“ We lost two amazing players (to graduation) last year, so trying to replace those two has been kind of a challenge for us,” said E-E coach Gloria Trevino, whose Lady Yellowjackets won District 32-5A one season ago. “The thing with my team is these girls are real versatile. Each and every one of them can play setter or middle hitter or outside hitter.

“ We had one player go down (with an injury late during the second game), so that kind of threw off our momentum,” Trevino added. “I’m looking forward to us having a successful season this year.

“ We took second at this tournament last year (losing to San Benito in the final). It makes our girls that much stronger and makes them want to win the next tournament even more.”

After South pretty much breezed to a nine-point victory, 25-16, during the first game of Saturday’s final, the second set became an all-out, back-and-forth clash with 15 ties.

A block by Mireles brought the Lady Hawks into a tie at 28, the last deadlock of the game. From there, E-E’s Meagan Acevedo recorded a kill to give her team a 29-28 advantage. E-E won the second game 30-28 on a block by Vida Ybarra.

Then it was on to the third and deciding game. There were five ties, the last of which came at 12. Earlier in the game, South led 8-4 and 10-5, but E-E didn’t go away.

A block by South’s Odemarys Vidana gave the Lady Hawks the lead for good at 13-12. Each team then traded a point on hits that went out. With the score 14-13 for the Lady Hawks, the Lady Yelowjackets couldn’t pick up Mireles’ tip and the South girls could start celebrating their hard-fought 15-13 win during the third game.

Other stats for the Lady Hawks included Alexa Encina with 24 assists, 13 digs; Allyah Guevara with nine kills, 10 digs; Zoe Garcia with 51 digs, six assists; Evelyn Yanez with 65 digs; Mia Zamorano with 27 digs; Vidana with two kills, three blocks; and Korynne Reininger with two kills, five digs and three blocks.

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods has reached another milestone in volleyball.

Woods, now in her 35th season of coaching, surpassed 700 victories for her career Friday at the Poundfest Tournament in McAllen.

Win No. 700 came during Los Fresnos’ first match of the day against Harlingen High. The Lady Falcons triumphed 25-15, 25-21 at the McAllen Memorial gym.

Interestingly, Woods earned her 600th victory by defeating Harlingen High in District 32-6A competition on Oct. 17, 2015, at the Los Fresnos gym. The Lady Falcons won that match with a 3-0 sweep.

Every time the coach achieves a milestone, she prefers to credit those around her.

“This is a huge milestone, and I have so many different ones to thank,” Woods said. “I credit all the players, (assistant) coaches, fellow teachers and administrators who have helped me on this journey. I have the parents and community to thank, too.”

Later Friday, after defeating the Lady Cardinals, the Lady Falcons suffered a 25-16, 25-17 loss to McAllen Memorial for first place in their pool.

Los Fresnos bounced back during its final pool match of Friday by topping Edinburg Vela 29-27, 25-23.

After Friday, Woods’ career record stands at 701-355. The Lady Falcons are 6-1 so far this season, with the only setback coming against the Lady Mustangs.

“We kind of had the jitters early against Memorial, but we came back and stayed with them,” Woods said. “We know we can play with them.”

Memorial won the pool, Los Fresnos was second, Vela was third and Harlingen High was fourth.

Bracket play is scheduled for today at Poundfest.

Los Fresnos goes against Brownsville Rivera in the gold bracket quarterfinals at 10 a.m. today at McAllen High. Also in the gold bracket at 9 a.m. today at McHi, it’s McHi vs. Vela and Sharyland High vs. McAllen Rowe. The other gold bracket quarterfinal at McHi has Edinburg North playing Memorial at 10 a.m. today.

“I don’t think too much was expected of us (here at Poundfest) this weekend,” Woods said. “I think we’ve opened a few eyes.”

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

There’s a little more stability involved for coach Armando Gutierrez this year as he starts the football season with the Lopez Lobos.

Just 12 months ago, Gutierrez was a late hire to guide the Lobos, and he found himself moving back to his native Brownsville from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex almost the same day Lopez’s practice started. In addition, the coach’s wife was about to give birth to the couple’s first child, and she initially had to stay behind in DFW before making the trip to the Valley.

It was a move made with less-than-ideal timing, and it was a demanding scenario that Gutierrez would not care to repeat.

Thank goodness, things are going much more in stride for the coach this time around as he begins his second season directing the Lobos.

Gutierrez, a 1996 Hanna graduate, said there are no regrets in having made his move back home.

“Experience-wise, it’s a lot better situation this year,” he said. “The good thing for me personally is I’ve gotten down here, I’ve finally gotten acclimated to being with these guys and I’ve gone through an offseason with them.

“Being back in the Valley after being in the DFW (for 15 years), it’s a completely different atmosphere,” he added. “Just getting these guys higher in their football acumen, I think that’s the key here.”

The Lobos are coming off a 2-8 season in which they went 1-8 in District 32-5A Division I. One of the wins was a 21-14 triumph over “Battle of Southmost” rival Porter.

It’s going to be a rebuilding season for the Lobos, who run an open, spread offense with a base 4-3 defense.

“We’re going to be very young this year,” Gutierrez said. “We had about 44 players last season and we graduated about 30 of them, so we are starting out this year with guys who have a decent amount of experience, but they’re still young players. We’re working through that.”

The Lopez coach said there are 85 to 90 athletes turning out for workouts. Out of those numbers, four are returning starters on offense and three on defense. Some of them are two-way players.

One of those is Luis Barrera, a senior H-back and strong outside linebacker who has been on the varsity three years and started two of them.

“It’s one of the best things (to have football starting again),” said Barrera, a 5-foot-8, 225-pounder. “It’s amazing.

“I really do want to see us get back to the playoffs (after missing the postseason last year),” he added. “Especially with these guys who are returning starters (and seniors), I think there are three or four of us, and we really hope we can make it.”

Sharing that mindset is senior teammate Santiago Castillo, a 6-2, 300-pound right guard who has been on the varsity for three years.

“The start of football gets me excited because I’ve been waiting for it so many months,” Castillo said. “This is my last year and I’m trying to make the most of it. Hopefully we can get to the playoffs and go as far as possible — just have fun.

“I think we have a couple more weapons as receivers, and I think we’re going to have a pretty decent O-line,” he added. “Our defense is looking good, too, and honestly, I’m pretty excited (about our chances).”

Directing the Lobos at quarterback will be Jose Manuel Cruz, a 6-1, 170-pound senior. He’s been a member of the varsity for two years.

“A lot of people don’t expect much from us and we’re trying to prove them wrong,” Cruz said. “We have a lot of potential. We’ll get there.”

The Lobos don pads on Saturday and begin full contact. They’ll be at Lopez to scrimmage Rio Hondo on Aug. 16 and La Feria on Aug. 22.

ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Rivera Lady Raiders are entering the new volleyball season with only one senior, who happens to be hurt.

The team has a good amount of young talent, but it just has to come together and prove itself.

The UIL season opened with workouts last week.

“We’ve been having some good practices,” said Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra, whose girls went to the playoffs as the third-place team from District 32-6A last season after capturing the district crown in 2017. “The girls are young and they’re working hard.

“We’re concentrating on working together and getting to know each other better and how each one plays,” Avelar-Guerra added. “I see them improving.”

There are four or five players back with varsity experience, but at least two of them are injured, the coach said.

One of the returnees who is healthy and playing well is sophomore Kenya Ibarra, a 5-foot-10 middle blocker who was The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Newcomer of the Year last season as a freshman.

The next challenge this week for the Lady Raiders and just about every other Valley team is playing in a tournament for the first time this season.

Some teams opened the regular season by playing non-district matches on Tuesday, while others begin the regular season with tournament play today, Friday and Saturday.

Rivera is playing in the Poundfest Tournament starting today in McAllen.

“I want us to be competitive,” Avelar-Guerra said of the goal for her team at Poundfest. “I’d like to see us finish as the top seed in our group. There will be some good teams at the tournament, so I know the competition will be tough.”

Besides Rivera, other teams at Poundfest are McAllen High, Edinburg North, Weslaco East, Porter, McAllen Memorial, La Feria, PSJA Memorial, Laredo Cigaroa, Los Fresnos, Pace, PSJA High, Weslaco High, Edinburg Economedes, Sharyland High, McAllen Rowe,

Port Isabel, Harlingen High, Hanna, Edinburg Vela, PSJA North, Brownsville Veterans Memorial, McAllen Memorial JV and McHi JV.

The other big volleyball event this week in the Valley is the Donna Tournament, which starts Friday. The teams playing there include San Benito, Monte Alto, Laredo Martin, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, Harlingen South, Grulla, Mercedes, Raymondvile, Donna High, Donna North, Rio Hondo, La Joya High, San Perlita, Edcouch-Elsa, Lyford, Valley View, Roma, Mission High, La Joya Palmview, Edinburg High, Lopez, Rio Grande City and San Diego.

St. Joseph Academy was entered at Donna, but had to pull out because Friday is SJA’s first day of school.