By ROY HESS | BROWNSVILLE HERALD

History sometimes repeats itself, and that has become a good thing for Brownsville Veterans Memorial in volleyball.

The Lady Chargers are now outright District 32-5A champions for the second straight season thanks to Tuesday’s 25-21, 22-25, 25-10, 25-16 victory at Porter.

It wasn’t exactly the strongest showing of the season for the Lady Chargers, but they got the job done and walked out of the Porter gym as repeat 32-5A champions, knowing they won’t have to share the title with anyone else.

Brownsville Veterans improved to 12-0 in district with two matches to play. Everyone else in 32-5A has at least three losses. Edcouch-Elsa and Donna High share second place in 32-5A at 9-3.

Porter, no longer in contention for a playoff spot, slipped to 3-9.

Still, the Cowgirls gave Brownsville Veterans quite a battle, particularly in the first two sets.

The Lady Chargers felt celebratory, and maybe even a little relieved, after the win.

They still have a chance to go 14-0 in district for the second consecutive year if they win their last two 32-5A matches.

“It’s a good feeling to work together and win the district championship for the second straight year,” said Brianna Estrada, a senior right-side hitter for the Lady Chargers. “I think we could have done better than we did tonight because we just weren’t all there (playing at the top of our game). But we still came out winning and we’re district champs again, so that’s good.”

There were 12 ties in the opening set, the last one at 21-21, before Brownsville Veterans surged ahead to record the final four points and win 25-21.

“I think if we wouldn’t have let that first set get away from us, maybe we would have gotten more of the momentum (and possibly done better),” Porter coach Ariel Arredondo said. “We were still able to win the second set (though).

“I’ve told my girls that for the rest of the season it’s (all about playing for) pride,” she added. “I’m proud of the way they’re playing hard and not giving up. We’re a young team and our record really doesn’t reflect the (kind of) team that we have considering the way my girls play.”

The second game was tied at 22-22 before Porter scored the last three points of the set to win 25-22 on a serving ace by April Reyes.

The Lady Chargers came back with renewed determination to take the next two games 25-10 and 25-16 in capturing the match.

The good news/bad news scenario that Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares presented to her team as it huddled after the match involved letting the players know she wasn’t at all satisfied with the way they played while also letting them know they were outright district champions again.

“It just didn’t seem we were ready to play tonight,” Mares said. “It wasn’t a cooperative effort on everybody’s behalf there for awhile. That’s when I started making substitutions and putting people in there that wanted to play.

“(After the match) I told the girls, ‘I’m going to start with the bad (which is we didn’t play all that well),'” Mares added. “Then I said the good (news) was we won district again.

“Really, it was (mostly) good because these girls have worked hard and winning district was their goal. This can be a positive because the girls can see how they need to come together and play in the playoffs if we want to stay around. They know they have to come together as a team in order to be successful.”

Leading the way on the stat sheet for the Lady Chargers against Porter was Cassie Valdez with 10 kills, 17 digs, 15 assists and three aces. Also for Brownsville Veterans, other contributors were Cynthia Garcia (10 kills), Rebecca Cardenas (eight kills, seven blocks, one ace), Frida Rangel (seven kills), Bridget Himes (six kills) and Kasandra Jimenez (34 digs).

Standouts for Porter included Reyes, Azaneth Perez and Micaela Garcia.

By ROY HESS|Staff Writer

The Hanna Golden Eagles are steadily building momentum as they enter the most crucial part of their football schedule.

Thanks to Friday’s 21-17 come-from-behind win on the road against Harlingen South, the Eagles captured their fifth straight victory and now stand 5-1 overall and 3-0 in District 32-6A. Hanna shares the 32-6A lead with San Benito and Harlingen High, all at 3-0.

The Eagles’ looming challenges down the stretch of the regular season begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Los Fresnos (2-1) at Sams Memorial Stadium. After the Falcons, Hanna completes its 32-6A schedule against San Benito, Harlingen High and Weslaco East.

Yes, what’s ahead presents a stern test, but the Hanna players believe they have gained strength, unity and cohesion.

The Eagles are playing for each other, and that’s the way it should be, they say.

“We knew from the start of the season we were going to have a team that would be something special,” said Joe Cavazos III, a senior who started the season at quarterback before getting hurt. “This (strong start) gives us a lot of confidence going into (what’s ahead in) district play. We’re all here (at practice) and working hard everyday with the same goal in mind, which is to win district.”

While Cavazos was out with his injury, sophomore Victor Campos stepped in and has done a solid job at QB. Cavazos now is lining up at his old position as a wide receiver. At times, Cavazos also plays in the defensive secondary.

“I’m just happy to be back on the field and playing with my team — anywhere they need me is where I’ll be,” said Cavazos, who missed multiple games early in the season due to his injury.
Added Campos, “It’s been a little crazy because I started the season as the third-string quarterback, but when Joe got hurt, I knew I had to step up. Coach (Mark) Guess told me I had to do what I had to do.
“Everyday in practice we’ve been telling each other it’s going to be a good season,” Campos added. “I’ve just been learning from everyone else. Everyone’s working hard and I’m gaining confidence as the QB with each game.”

Hanna fields a productive offense fueled by its rushing attack behind running backs Cesar Mancias, Aaron Frausto and others, while the Eagles boast a defense that can make stops and come up with big plays.

Mancias, a junior, continues to spark the Eagles’ ground game and already is halfway to a 1,000-yard season rushing the ball. He averages 8 yards per carry.

At the midpoint of the season, the Hanna offense ranked fourth in 32-6A with an average of 363 yards per game, while the Eagles ranked third defensively in district, allowing 289 yards per contest.

Matthew Garcia, a senior free safety for the Eagles, said the team has a lot of togetherness, especially on defense.

“I trust these guys,” said Garcia, who has returned two interceptions for touchdowns so far this season. “We’ve been playing together for a couple of years now and we know each other. It makes us great on defense knowing we can make plays. We give each other a pat on the back because it’s a team, you know.
“All of us have the same work ethic,” he added. “We all put in the same strong effort every Friday night.”

Mark Guess, now in his second season as Hanna’s head coach, is upbeat about his team’s play.

“We’ve certainly made a lot of strides since last year,” Guess said. “We’ve already eclipsed our win total (of three games) from a season ago, so we already know we’re well ahead of where we were last year.
“The good thing is we had a great offseason and got bigger, faster and stronger,” he added. “I think those results are starting to show on the field. The unity and camaraderie among these guys is unlike anything

I’ve ever seen before on the football field. I believe our chemistry and work ethic is really what is paying off for us.”

The success the Eagles are enjoying comes with a pair of new coaches on the staff — Steve Marroquin as offensive coordinator and J.C. Ramirez as defensive coordinator.

“I give a lot of props to our coaches,” Cavazos said. “We have a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator. We’re trusting in the system, and as players, we just let them teach us so we can produce on the field for them.”

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Another Friday night, another win for the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked San Benito Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds remained undefeated at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in District 32-6A with a 49-21 victory over the Rivera Raiders (1-5, 0-3) at Sams Memorial Stadium.

San Benito led 28-0 after one quarter and 42-0 at halftime. The Greyhounds took a 49-0 lead into the final 12 minutes.

San Benito made substitutions on a large scale beginning early in the third quarter.

The Greyhounds’ defensive lapses in the final period that allowed the Raiders to score three times didn’t set very well with San Benito coach Dan Gomez.

“All the things we did wrong (were what stood out to me),” Gomez said. “We got some (reserve) players in there in the second half. Usually when you make mass substitutions like that, some things go the way you wouldn’t want them to go, but we were able to give playing time to some of our guys, and that’s what is important.”

The Greyhounds, who scored on six of their first seven possessions, went ahead by four touchdowns to lead 28-0 in the opening period thanks to a pair of scores each by running back Tyrone Harper and wideout Isaiah Trevino.

First, Harper took a handoff and sprinted 46 yards down the left sideline to the end zone and then caught a short swing pass from quarterback Erick Retta and took off to complete a 32-yard run-and-pass scoring play to make it 14-0.

Later in the first quarter, Trevino got the ball on an end around and went 29 yards to the end zone. He then caught an 18-yard scoring pass from Retta in the right corner of the end zone for a 28-0 advantage.

In the second quarter, Jacob Cavazos and Brandon Valadez scored on runs of 18 and 28 yards, respectively, to boost the lead to 42-0 by intermission.

The Greyhounds took advantage of good field position. After taking the opening kickoff and starting at its 35-yard line, San Benito started its next six drives inside Rivera territory, including one first-quarter drive that began at the Raiders’ eight.

It became 49-0 with 8:53 showing in the third period when San Benito’s Jason Navarro plunged across the goal line from 1 yard out.

Fernando Perez was good on all seven of his extra-point kicks for the Greyhounds.

Ariel Gonzalez replaced injured Rivera starter Nico Blanco at QB in the second quarter. Gonzalez repeatedly faced a fierce pass rush from the Greyhounds, just like Blanco had faced, but was able to finally get the Raiders’ offense to start clicking in the last period as he threw TD passes of 22 yards to Elian Hernandez and 82 yards to Pablo Ruiz.

In between, Gonzalez scored on a 1-yard QB keeper.

The Greyhounds were coming off a 44-21 win at Weslaco East, while Rivera was coming off a 45-20 setback at Harlingen High.

When asked how it felt for his team to remain undefeated with Friday’s victory, Gomez said, “We don’t count the wins at our place. We just (move on and) get ready for the next week, especially in this district. You have to put your Friday night win away and get ready for the next one.”

District 32-6A action continues next Friday as San Benito plays host to Harlingen South and Rivera visits Weslaco High.

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

The first full season of varsity volleyball competition is in the books for the St. Joseph Academy Lady Bloodhounds, who finished with a 10-5 record after winning at home Tuesday against San Isidro.

“The fact that we were able to go from having no volleyball three years ago to having a full varsity season this year (was something amazing),” SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said. “The players really worked hard to get ready for it. We’re blessed that we have some players who are very athletic, and that was a big plus for us.

“Going 10-5 is not too bad,” she added. “In my mind, we could have won all of them, but I guess we’re still growing, so I can kind of be OK with it. I’ve got everyone coming back except for two seniors. Basically, my two big hitters are a freshman and a sophomore. We’ve got some good, young players coming up, so I think volleyball has a (bright) future at St. Joe.”

One of the top performers for SJA is Halima Dervisevic, a freshman.

“Playing on St. Joe’s first varsity team meant a lot to me because I was in the program’s starting team (in junior high) three years ago,” Dervisevic said. “It is truly an honor to represent my school.

“Our closeness on and off the court helps us play cohesively,” she added. “I love my team because we know how to encourage and help each other. I know that my team will always be there to help me correct my errors, and that is a great feeling.”

Ally Stachowiak, a sophomore, is another of SJA’s top players as a presence at the net.

“I think it’s really amazing to be part of the foundation (for volleyball) at our school,” Stachowiak said. “Over the years, we want to see (more) improvement and other people joining in (with the program) and the fun that we’re having. Everyone has room for improvement. We can’t stop working hard.”

All of the Lady Bloodhounds’ matches this season were non-district. They hope to compete in TAPPS in the future.

TOUGH COMPETITORS

With a 3-7 record, the Porter Cowgirls aren’t close to the top of the District 32-5A standings, but they’ve given their district opponents fits during just about every match. Of the 10 district matches they’ve played so far, the Cowgirls have gone beyond three sets eight times, including four matches that went to five games.

Porter coach Ariel Arredondo is proud of her team’s “never-give-up” attitude, and believes with just a little more consistency the Cowgirls could be higher in the standings and in a better position for the playoffs.

“We’re an inexperienced team,” Arredondo said. “A lot of our girls don’t have varsity experience. It shows in the matches we’ve had that have gone to four or five sets. We’re fighters. What we’ve seen against teams like Pace and Lopez, and even Donna High and Edcouch-Elsa, is that we aren’t able to finish. We’ll have a standout set followed by another standout set and then go flat.

“Regardless, I’m proud of the girls,” Arredondo added. “I know our record doesn’t really reflect how well this team has done.”

The Cowgirls are coming off Tuesday’s 23-25, 25-4, 25-15, 25-20 district win at home against Donna North.

Tuesday’s stat leaders for Porter included Ana Meza (18 kills), Azaneth Perez (18 kills, three aces), Micaela Garcia (10 kills, five solo blocks, one assist), Brigitte Ortiz (45 assists, five aces, one solo block), April Reyes (18 digs), Rachel Reyes (10 digs, two aces), Vanessa Mendez (four aces). Brenda Garcia (four aces) and Aliah Quiroz (three solo blocks, one assist).

The Cowgirls continue 32-5A action Saturday at Donna High.

MATCH MOVED UP

The District 32-5A match between Lopez and Brownsville Veterans Memorial has been moved up to 7 p.m. Friday due to an event taking place at the Brownsville Veterans gym on Saturday. The match still will be played at Brownsville Veterans only a day earlier than originally scheduled.

STANDINGS UPDATE

District 32-6A: Rivera (10-0), Los Fresnos (9-1), San Benito (6-4), Harlingen High (6-4), Hanna (5-5), Harlingen South (2-8), Weslaco East (1-9), Weslaco High (1-9).

District 32-5A: Brownsville Veterans Memorial (10-0), Edcouch-Elsa (7-3), Donna High (7-3), Lopez (5-5), Pace (4-6), Porter (3-7), Mercedes (3-7), Donna North 1-9).

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

St. Joseph Academy’s first full season of varsity volleyball competition came to a close on a positive note Tuesday with the Lady Bloodhounds winning at home against San Isidro in a non-district match.

SJA triumphed 25-22, 25-17.

The match was shortened and played with a best-of-three format instead of the usual best-of-five arrangement because San Isidro has its district cross country meet scheduled Wednesday morning and its volleyball players participate in that sport as well. The girls needed to get home before too late and get a good night’s sleep since they were going to get up early to run at their district meet.

Tuesday’s win allowed the Lady Bloodhounds to finish their first full varsity season with a 10-5 record. All their matches were non-district. They hope to compete in TAPPS in the future.

Throughout the match, both teams had trouble maintaining consistent play for any length of time, but the Lady Bloodhounds were the steadier of the two squads and it showed in their favor on the scoreboard.

“I think we were communicating more than San Isidro and just talking to each other (more) in general (and that was what helped us win),” said SJA’s Milandra Bossolo, a senior libero who finished with a team-high nine digs and a pair of aces.

“I think this season was really fun, but there’s always room for improvement,” she added. “I’m a little sad that (I’m graduating and) I won’t be here to see the improvement (next season). I’m going to miss the girls.”

SJA led by as many as eight points, 14-6, in the first game before the Lady Tigers battled back to tie the score at 17-17, 19-19, 21-21 and 22-22. San Isidro even led 20-19 on an ace.

The Lady Bloodhounds regained the lead 23-22 when the Lady Tigers hit the ball into the net. SJA then took a 24-22 advantage on another San Isidro hitting error. An ace by SJA’s Halima Dervisevic gave her team the 25-22 first-game win.

San Isidro never led or tied the score in the second set as the Lady Bloodhounds built leads of 5-0 and 14-5 before the Lady Tigers closed the gap to 16-15 on another ace, but came no closer.

The Lady Bloodhounds took the second match 25-17 when the Lady Tigers hit the ball too many times and failed to get it over the net on the final point.

“It feels good to end the season on a winning note,” SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said. “I just wish we had done a better job with our consistency. We gave up two big leads, and one of them was eight points (14-6).

“The group that I started the season with really was only six players, and they played pretty much all the time until I pulled up a couple more players (from the junior varsity),” Olguin-Trevino added. “I think the perseverance and the toughness of these girls is what has stood out to me. We played a number of four- and five-set matches with basically six players, so endurance was a big part of it, too.”

Against San Isidro, Ally Stachowiak led SJA with six kills and had one stuff-block. Also for the Lady Bloodhounds, Dervisevic had four kills, two aces and one block-stuff, Tori Gonzalez contributed three kills and Bekah Rodriguez added two kills and two aces.

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

The Rivera Lady Raiders enjoyed another successful outing Saturday in District 32-6A volleyball.

The Lady Raiders improved to 9-0 as the leader of the 32-6A race with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-14 victory against Harlingen High at the Rivera gym.

Harlingen High slipped to fourth place in 32-6A with a 5-4 record.

Los Fresnos and San Benito each won Saturday to stay in second and third place in district with 8-1 and 6-3 records, respectively.

Sparked by a hustling defense that routinely handled just about everything that came over the net, the Lady Raiders took control of Saturday’s match early in the first game and never allowed the Lady Cardinals to build much in the way of momentum.

“Our girls played very well together today and their defense was awesome,” Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “They picked up some balls that I had to say ‘Wow!’ They were really going at it and making sure the ball didn’t drop in our court. They were passing well and playing smart, so I would say they played pretty awesome today.”

In the first game, Rivera took the lead and didn’t relinquish it after going up 4-3. The Lady Raiders went on to win the set 25-14. The Lady Raiders broke out of a 10-10 tie in the second game and went up for good 11-10 on a kill by Litzy Medina before winning 25-17.

Rivera led the entire way in the third game and won 25-14 to sweep the match.

Lady Cardinals coach Joslynn Torres was impressed by the hustle the Lady Raiders displayed, especially on defense.

“Game 1, my girls showed up to play and they were ready to fight, but these girls from Rivera didn’t let a ball hit the floor — it didn’t matter what (the play was or where the ball went),” Torres said. “Whatever was hit at them, tipped at them or served at them, they hustled to make it work. Their hustle showed for them in this match.

“Rivera’s girls went to work on every single point,” she added. “My girls were in it. They fought for the first 10 points (during the first two sets) and we were looking good and seemed like the better team out there because we had more attacks. But after we fell behind by three points or so, we didn’t do very well catching up. When we see that happening, it seems to put some sort of weight on our girls and we can’t seem to bounce back.”

Rivera had defeated Harlingen High in the first round of district 25-21, 25-15, 25-23 on Sept. 12 at the Lady Cardinals’ gym.

Stephanie Garza led the Lady Raiders with 16 kills and four digs. Other stat leaders for Rivera were Medina (nine kills, three digs, two aces), Victoria Zuniga (nine kills, four blocks), Mayra Martinez (six kills, seven blocks, two digs, two assists), Kourtney Shears (32 assists, six digs, one ace, one assist), and Madelaine Blanco (16 digs, two kills).

For the Lady Cardinals, leading the stat sheet were Yazmine Martinez (10 kills), Kirsten Kattan (seven kills) and Julissa Munivez (25 digs).

District play continues at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as Rivera visits San Benito and Weslaco High is at Harlingen High.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILE HERALD

LOS FRESNOS — Given a choice, no team wants to be 0-2 in District 32-6A, or any other district for that matter.

That’s why Friday’s game between the Los Fresnos Falcons and Harlingen South Hawks was so important as both teams were coming off losses in last week’s 32-6A openers.

As it turned out, Los Fresnos was the one getting the victory at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium with a 35-7 triumph over the Hawks.

Los Fresnos led 7-0 after one quarter and 14-0 at halftime. The Falcons added three touchdowns in the third period to take a 35-0 advantage into the final 12 minutes when their reserves got a chance to play.

“Obviously, our defense stood out to me tonight,” Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said. “Our defense has played so hard. I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a defense that has made so many fourth-and-short stops, and they’ve done it week after week after week.

“Our offensive coaches and players are able to get so much confidence (because of our strong defensive effort),” Brown added. “We’re able to take some chances on offense that we wouldn’t normally take because of what our defense can do. Everyone is just playing so hard.”

Los Fresnos kept South scoreless in the first half even though the Hawks marched to the Falcons’ 4- and 8-yard lines on separate drives. On their drive that went to the 4-yard line, the Hawks wound up having a 21-yard field-goal attempt blocked at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter.

The Falcons, ranked No. 7 in the Valley, now are 3-2 overall and 1-1 in 32-6A, while South is 1-4 and 0-2, having suffered its fourth straight setback.

Los Fresnos bounced back from last week’s 43-33 defeat at San Benito, the Valley’s No. 1-ranked team, in the 32-6A opener for both ballclubs. South was coming off a 36-7 loss against Harlingen High in the 25th Bird Bowl in another 32-6A opener.

Los Fresnos quarterback Charles Chapa led the scoring for his team on Friday with three TD runs as the Falcons went ahead 21-0.

He scored on a 6-yard run at the 5:25 mark of the opening period to cap a 10-play, 93-yard drive and added a 3-yard uncontested jaunt into the end zone with 7:32 showing in the second quarter to provide the Falcons with a 14-0 edge at intermission, thanks to Adrian Torres’ extra-point kicks.

Chapa skipped into the end zone from 2 yards out with 8:22 left in the third period to increase the lead to 21-0.

“After losing against San Benito, tonight felt pretty good,” Chapa said. “We had to come out here and show everyone that we’re just not going to get run over by the other teams in our district, so this was a statement win for us.

“I give credit to the whole, entire offense (for helping me score),” Chapa added. “If I don’t get blocks on the outside by my receivers, I’m not scoring. If I’m not getting blocks up front by my ‘O-line,’ I’m not scoring, and if the running backs aren’t carrying out their fakes, I’m probably not going to score. That’s why I have to give a big thanks to everybody on the offense.”

It became 28-0 with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter when the Falcons returned a South punt 52 yards down the left sideline for another TD. Los Fresnos running back Matthew Medina burst up the middle 62 yards with 3:11 to go in the third period to make it 35-0. Medina, replacing injured starter Alberto Banuelos, led all rushers with 159 yards on 11 caries.

South got on the scoreboard with 6:25 left in the game when quarterback David Torres hooked up with Gilbert Jaure on a deep pass for a 37-yard scoring play.

South running back Jorge Alicea, the Hawks’ leading rusher and scorer, appeared to be out with an injury as he was on the sideline dressed in street clothes.

It was the second straight game that Torres, a sophomore, played QB for the Hawks in place of Dylan Carreon, a senior.

District 32-6A action continues next week as Los Fresnos is at home against Weslaco East and South plays host to Hanna.

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Sometimes, it’s a matter of going to Plan B.

Plan A for the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons involved going undefeated through District 32-6A volleyball for a third consecutive season and winning a school-record fifth straight conference title.

The Lady Falcons had to adjust their plans on Sept. 26 after suffering a 25-14, 25-19, 25-23 loss at Rivera. It was their first district setback since 2014.

After defeating San Benito 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 on Tuesday, the Lady Falcons (7-1) stayed right behind district leader Rivera (8-0) in the 32-6A race. San Benito and Harlingen High are tied for third place at 5-3.

Now the plan for Los Fresnos is to keep winning so the Lady Falcons possibly can have a chance to tie Rivera for the district crown when the two teams meet again Oct. 21 in the second round of 32-6A action at Los Fresnos. That’s assuming the Lady Raiders keep winning and maintain the 32-6A lead.

From the Lady Falcons’ perspective, it’s still quite possible to capture a fifth straight district championship, even if it might be shared. They’re thinking Rivera will keep winning, so they have to do the same.

“We have to stay focused and we can’t drop any more matches to anyone,” said Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods after Tuesday’s win at home against the Lady Greyhounds. “We have to come back and beat Rivera on our home court. In order to do that and get a chance at the district title, we can’t lose to anybody. It doesn’t matter who we play.”

Woods said even though the Lady Falcons played with a lot of intensity and showed the ability to stay composed and rally against San Benito, there are still areas to work on.

“Our blocking has to improve,” she said. “We’re working a lot on that.”

The Lady Falcons continue their 32-6A schedule by playing at Harlingen South on Saturday. The start time has been changed from noon to 3 p.m. due to testing.

Also, a key 32-6A match at 3 p.m. Saturday has Harlingen High at Rivera.

Rounding out the 32-6A standings behind the top four teams, it’s Hanna (3-5), South (2-6), Weslaco High (1-7) and Weslaco East (1-7).

32-5A UPDATE

Thanks to Tuesday’s 25-15, 20-25, 25-12, 25-16 win at Pace, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers remain atop the District 32-5A standings at 8-0.

Behind Brownsville Veterans, it’s Edcouch-Elsa (7-1), Lopez (5-3), Donna High (5-3), Pace (3-5), Porter (2-6), Mercedes (2-6) and Donna North (0-8).

At this point, it appears the same four teams that went to the playoffs last year (Brownsville Veterans, E-E, Donna High and Lopez) are on course to do so again. Lopez had to defeat Pace in a “play-in” match last season to reach the postseason as the two teams wound up tied for fourth place in district. It’s possible Pace could create that same scenario again this season. But for now, the Lady Lobos and also the Bravettes have a two-match cushion over the Lady Vikings.

WRAPPING IT UP

It’s been a successful season for the St. Joseph Academy Lady Bloodhounds, who are playing their first full season of varsity competition.

SJA (9-4) plays at Hebbronville on Friday and closes out its season at home against San Isidro at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The Lady Bloodhounds are coached by Dolores Olguin-Trevino, who previously coached at Hanna and Los Fresnos.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

LOS FRESNOS — When the Los Fresnos volleyball team comes out playing at the top of its game, it’s very difficult to beat the Lady Falcons.

That’s the way Los Fresnos started off Tuesday’s District 32-6A match at home against San Benito as, after dominating the opening game, the Lady Falcons stayed just barely ahead most of the way thereafter en route to capturing a 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 victory.

“I liked how we came out and played in the first game — we were on fire,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “We need to play like that every time.

“I told our girls, ‘Let them earn the points they make. Let’s not give them points off our mistakes,’” Woods added. “I give my girls credit. We were down four points (9-5) in the second game and five points (twice) in the third game (9-4 and 10-5), and point by point, we came back. We let San Benito make the mistakes.”

Los Fresnos remained in second place in 32-6A with a 7-1 record as the second round of district action began Tuesday. The Lady Greyhounds slipped into a tie for third place in 32-6A with a 5-3 mark, the same record as Harlingen High, which downed Harlingen South 25-22, 26-24, 25-20.

Rivera defeated Hanna 25-14, 25-18, 25-18 to stay in the 32-6A lead at 8-0.

The Lady Falcons came up with a strong match against a talented opponent to stay within striking distance of Rivera in the standings.

“San Benito is a good team,” Woods said. “They hung in there with us every game. They are tough against anybody they play.

“They’ve got good hitters, good blockers, good serving, their tipping is great and they know where to place the ball,” Woods added. “I told my girls, ‘You’ve got to be on your horse (and play well) tonight because they’re going to come after you,’ and they did.”

After dominating the first game and winning 25-15, the Lady Falcons found themselves in a tough battle in the second set as the score was tied 12 times. The last deadlock came at 22-22 before the Lady Falcons closed out the game 25-22 on an ace, a tip and a kill by Kaitlan Mata.

The third set was another tight battle with seven ties and the Lady Greyhounds leading by five points twice, 9-4 and 10-5. But after the third game was knotted for the final time at 20-20, the Lady Falcons went ahead 21-20 and 22-21.

Then, a pair of hitting errors by the Lady Greyhounds — a serve into the net and a volley that sailed long — allowed the Lady Falcons to go up 24-21. From there, a strong hit from the left side by Los Fresnos’ Giselle Ibarra went off a San Benito player, hit the ceiling and fell into the San Benito court to close out the match.

San Benito coach Ruby Medina was somewhat disappointed with her team after Tuesday’s showing.

“We just couldn’t get going in the first game,” the Lady Greyhounds coach said. “We had a slow start and the hitting wasn’t there, the passing wasn’t there and the sets weren’t there. The second game we started playing a little better. We had the lead, but then it got away from us. I told the girls we can’t be like a roller coaster and be up and down. We just have to (play consistently and) finish it.

“Los Fresnos is a good team, but we’re also a good team,” she added. “Personally, I didn’t feel we played to our full potential tonight. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.”

Ibarra led Los Fresnos with 16 kills and 15 digs. Also contributing to the win for the Lady Falcons were Sarah Villarreal (17 assists, 12 digs), Emma Stambaugh (eight kills), Natalie Leal (15 assists, seven digs), Isis Delgado (40 digs, 24 service receptions) and Alex Garcia (nine digs, 10 service receptions).

Crystal Ibarra was a standout for the Lady Greyhounds with 10 kills, 10 digs and two blocks. Other standouts for San Benito included Kayleen Reyes (five kills, 10 assists, two blocks), Alysa Naranjo (seven kills, three blocks), Arlene Lucero (four kills, four blocks) and Sarah Garcia (35 digs).

District play continues for both teams on Saturday as Weslaco East is at San Benito at noon and Los Fresnos is at Harlingen South at 3 p.m.