By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Highlighting Friday’s schedule of District 32-6A soccer openers is a game matching the top two 32-6A girls teams from one year ago.

The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons play host to the Harlingen South Lady Hawks.

The district is playing varsity doubleheaders again this year, with the girls set for 5:30 p.m. matches and the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m., assuming no overtime nor PKs are needed during the opening game.

The Los Fresnos girls have won 32-6A the past two seasons but have lasted only one round in the playoffs both times. They go against a South girls team that finished as district runner-up by only one point last season, and wound up advancing to the Region IV-6A Tournament final and finishing with a 23-4 overall record.

There should be some fireworks as the two teams square off again.

“We expect to see an elite team in Harlingen South,” said Lady Falcons coach Diego Luna, who served as the assistant under Patricia Hernandez before taking over as the main coach of the Los Fresnos girls this season. “Every year, they are contenders for the district title and go deep in the playoffs. We are excited about the challenge and will prepare to go out and compete.”

The Lady Falcons tuned up for their district opener with a 4-1 win Tuesday at Edinburg High. They surged to a 4-1 lead during the opening half thanks to three goals by Ashley Esparza and one by J.C. Gaznares.

“Our predistrict schedule has been tough, no doubt,” Luna said. “We have played some of the top teams in the Valley — McAllen High, McAllen Memorial, (La Joya) Juarez-Lincoln, Edinburg Vela, Donna North and Sharyland Pioneer, and we have been able to compete with an 11-4-1 record.

“The girls know district play is tough and have been preparing through our predistrict games,” Luna added. “The team is feeling confident, and our girls will match the experience and skill of other district opponents.”

The Lady Falcons go against a 10-4-1 South team with five returning starters in Sarah Garza, Caroline Grannum, Sandra Lopez, Olivia Olivarez and Korynne Reininger.

As always, the Lady Hawks have some skilled players coming up from their subvarsity ranks who have benefited from club competition.

“We are playing well, but we know we have a tough game ahead of us against Los Fresnos on Friday,” said South coach Omar Pedroza, who earlier this season captured his 500th career victory as the Lady Hawks’ coach through 24 seasons.

When asked about the key to Friday’s game, Pedroza said, “Los Fresnos has a lot of speed at forward. We’ll need help from our midfield.”

OTHER 32-6A OPENERS

With only six teams in 32-6A again for the second straight year, every match becomes vitally important.

Other 32-6A openers at 5:30 p.m. Friday for the girls include San Benito at Harlingen High and Brownsville Rivera at Brownsville Hanna.

For the boys at 7:30 p.m. Friday, the 32-6A openers include South at Los Fresnos, Rivera at Hanna and San Benito at Harlingen High.

The second date for 32-6A games is scheduled for Tuesday.

32-5A UPDATE

No one is all that surprised to see Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Brownsville Porter and Valley View leading the District 32-5A boys race with 2-0 records and six points apiece. Behind them are Brownsville Lopez (1-1, three points), Brownsville Pace (1-1, three points), and Donna High, Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes (all 0-2 with no points).

What’s a little more unexpected is the 32-5A girls race, where Porter alone holds the lead with a 2-0 record and six points. The Cowgirls are followed by Lopez (2-0, five points), Brownsville Veterans (2-0, four points), Pace (1-1, four points), Valley View (1-1, three points), E-E (0-2, one point), Donna High (0-2, one point) and Mercedes (0-2, no points).

“The team is coming together, and the girls are playing better and better every game,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said.

There are seven returning starters for the Cowgirls. They are goalkeeper Jazmine Reyna, defender Keenia Palacios, midfielders Marina Rios and Jacqueline Gonzalez, forward Azaneth Perez and forward/midfielders Denisse Romero and Liberty Garza.

The Cowgirls stayed unbeaten in district with a 2-1 win Tuesday at Mercedes. Garza beat two defenders to give the Cowgirls a 1-0 first-half lead. The Porter girls went up 2-0 during the second half on a penalty kick by Romero. Mercedes scored on a PK with about 11 minutes left to make it 2-1.

GAMES OF INTEREST

Boys games at 5:30 p.m. Friday of particular interest in 32-5A include Valley View at Porter and Pace at Lopez.

For the 32-5A girls at 7:30 p.m. Friday, games of interest include Pace at Lopez and Valley View at Porter.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — There are two main reasons the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District is creating an athletics hall of honor.

“We want to honor the past and inspire the future,” said Robert Davies, who recently took over as HCISD director of athletics for the retired Randy Cretors.

The hall of honor would be patterned after those around the country at other universities and school districts.
The idea is to select between five and seven individuals who have made significant contributions to the school district, primarily as former athletes or former coaches, and honor them at the “Bird Bowl” next football season. Past teams and volunteers may also be considered.

“I don’t know if I would say it’s something that is long overdue, but the timing is certainly right to do it now,” Davies said.

Individual or team state champions are automatically inducted to the HCISD Athletic Hall of Honor. There is an online nomination form that should be completed to submit the names of any prospective candidates. It may be found at www.hcisd.org.

The deadline to submit nominations is June 1, 2020.

Criteria for nomination of former HCISD athletes include:

— Athletic participation at one of the two high schools in Harlingen CISD
— Must be a graduate of an HCISD high school for a minimum of 10 years
— While athletic achievement is of prime importance, attainment of Harlingen CISD values during and post-high school years will be taken into consideration
— Other considerations may include but not limited to: individual/team accomplishments and balance between sports and academics

Criteria for nomination of former HCISD coaches includes:

— Must have made a significant contribution to Harlingen CISD athletics
— Must have been out of coaching in HCISD for at least five years or retired from education
— Other considerations may include but not limited to: honors, peer recognition and team accomplishments

Also listed online are the criteria to nominate past teams or distinguished volunteers for induction into the hall of honor.

For more information, go to the Harlingen CISD website or call (956) 430-9500.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

SAN BENITO — William Huerta is beginning his fourth season as the San Benito boys soccer coach with aspirations of getting the Greyhounds to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

The Greyhounds advanced to the postseason from District 32-6A last year for the first time since 2014. It was a brief playoff appearance as San Benito was ousted in the bi-district round by a strong Donna North team.

This time, there are seven returning starters back plus some other players who came off the bench last season.
The returning starters are Axel Rivera, Andy Mares, Tommy Diaz, Senovio Cerdan, David Davila, Jose Lucio and Yahir Reyes.

“I see this team as a very competitive team,” said Huerta, who celebrated his 46th birthday on Wednesday. “We have done a great job competing in all the games we have played. Our goal is to take a step forward and improve every game and every practice.

“These athletes have been working hard through the offseason and our non-district games, and their goal is to make it to the postseason and make a good run,” Huerta added. “We look forward to the challenges our district has to offer.”

District 32-6A play begins Jan. 31. The Greyhounds have two more non-district matches at home before starting 32-6A action.

They play host to Laredo Alexander on Friday and play host to Donna North next Tuesday.

HAWKS SEEKING ENCORE PERFORMANCE

The Harlingen South Hawks made news last season by winning a playoff game for the first time in the school’s history.

The Hawks actually won twice in the postseason last year with victories against Edinburg Economedes (3-2) and McAllen Rowe (4-1). They fell against Brownsville Hanna 4-2 during the third round of the playoffs and missed out on advancing to the Region IV-6A Tournament for the first time by one win.

Julian Robles returns as the Hawks’ coach and he welcomes back a strong group of experienced players.
Graduated are last year’s senior captains Jose Lerma, Angel Ortega and Eric Lopez Jr., but returning are a number of skilled players.

“I believe we have a talented roster with the two (all-district) newcomers of the year (last season) in Leo Torres (a junior) and Joaquin Ovalle (a sophomore),” Robles said. “Isaac Garza and Adrian Salazar, both juniors, come back as a forward and a midfielder after a breakout season last year.

“Luis Aguilar, a senior, and Carlos Hernandez, a junior, will try to maintain the midfield defensively,” Robles added. “Sophomores Ayden Hernandez and Alejandro Sanchez bring something to the table also as newcomers.
“It is still a tight race at goalkeeper between seniors Luis Beadle and Skylar Vasquez and junior Dustin Sanchez.”
The South coach said his current squad stands out in terms of speed.

“I can’t remember another Hawk team of the past with so much overall speed,” Robles said. “We have had a very tough preseason schedule. We knew the potential was high (for us to do well again in district, so we wanted to play challenging opponents in non-district).

“We still have some things to clean up, but we are moving in the right direction,” he added. “We want to be peaking at the right time (in district), and I think we will.”

The Hawks are coming off Tuesday’s 3-1 non-district win at Economedes. Their next action will be their 32-6A opener at Los Fresnos on Jan. 31.

DISTRICT 32-5A OPENERS

Friday marks the beginning of District 32-5A competition. Boys and girls varsity teams play doubleheaders with the boys playing at 5:30 p.m. and the girls to follow at 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s 32-5A schedule has Brownsville Pace at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Brownsville Lopez at Edcouch-Elsa, Donna High at Brownsville Porter and Mercedes at Valley View.

District 32-6A play starts on Jan. 31. In District 32-4A, competition has already begun.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Considering their strong start to the 2020 soccer season, the Porter Cowboys are among the teams expected to do well at this week’s Brownsville ISD Showcase.

The three-day, 17-team event begins at 11 a.m. today and runs through Saturday with full 80-minute matches at Brownsville Veterans Memorial and at Hanna. A tournament championship match isn’t scheduled, just round-robin play.

The Cowboys won last week’s season-opening Southmost Classic final 3-0 against Edinburg North thanks to a pair of goals by Brandon Montes and one by Xavier Mateos.

On Tuesday, the Cowboys won a non-district match at Los Fresnos 1-0 on a first-half goal by Mateos.

Porter coach Jose Espitia likes what he’s seeing from his team so far as the season unfolds.

“It was a very competitive (Southmost Classic) tournament,” Espitia said. “There were up to six teams that could have been finalists. It feels good to win it again, but our main goal at this point is to try different scenarios (lineups) and prepare for what matters most (when District 32-5A starts later this month).”

One of the Cowboys’ main motivations is last season’s first-round playoff loss at home to La Joya Palmview 2-1.

The Porter coach wants his team to build on its strong 5-0-2 start to the season.

“I’m very impressed with the intensity our boys have been playing with,” Espitia said. “We do not have the size, but we have the heart.”

The Cowboys open the BISD Showcase at 11 a.m. today at Hanna against McAllen Rowe. On Friday, Porter plays twice at Brownsville Veterans and goes against Rivera at 9 a.m. and against Harlingen South at 3 p.m. At 9 a.m. Saturday, Porter plays Weslaco High at Brownsville Veterans.

Other teams in the Showcase are Brownsville Veterans, Lopez, Pace, Hanna, San Antonio Reagan, Los Fresnos, St. Joseph Academy, La Joya High, PSJA North, Stephen F. Austin, La Salle and a Hanna “B” squad.

Matches of special interest figure to include Brownsville Veterans vs. Reagan on the Chargers’ field at 6 p.m. today, Rivera vs. Porter at 9 a.m. Friday at Brownsville Veterans, Rivera vs. Reagan at 6 p.m. Friday at Brownsville Veterans, Lopez vs. Stephen F. Austin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Hanna and Hanna vs. Reagan at 11 a.m. Saturday at Hanna.

STRONG START

Another team enjoying a strong start to the season last week was the Rivera girls squad, which finished second to Sharyland High in the Brownsville ISD Tournament at Brownsville Sports Park.

The Lady Rattlers prevailed over the Lady Raiders 1-0 in the tournament final.

In the tournament semifinals, Rivera edged Hanna 3-2 in penalty kicks and Sharyland High prevailed over Lopez.

The Rivera girls went 6-2 in the tournament.

“I absolutely loved the fighting spirit and heart the Lady Raiders played with and how they came together to play as a team,” Rivera girls coach Eduardo Torres said.

Like many other Brownsville girls teams, thhe Lady Raiders are going out of the Valley to play in the Rattler Roundup Tournament in San Marcos this week along with Pace.

Also headed out of the Valley are Hanna and Porter to play in the San Antonio Edgewood Tournament and Brownsville Veterans is going to the San Antonio ISD Tournament.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Boxing has played an important role in Tomas Barrientes’ life for 34 years as an amateur and professional fighter.

Now the 49-year-old Mercedes resident is being enshrined Sunday into the Rio Grande Valley Boxing Hall of Fame as one of five members of the inaugural Class of 2019.

“This (induction) is something different,” Barrientes said. “I can’t wait for it. I have never thought of getting an award like this. Hopefully it turns out to be a big thing (in the future) for Valley boxers because everyone puts in a lot of work. It’s always great to be recognized for something you do.”

The other four inductees are Beto Carr, 87, of Mercedes, a longtime coach, gym operator and promoter of amateur boxing events who trained Barrientes as a youth; Alfredo Gomez, 83, of Brownsville, a standout amateur boxer who went to state at 106 pounds and fought as a 17-year-old before graduating from high school in 1955; Andrew L. Maynard, 55, a Harlingen resident for more than 30 years who won the gold medal as a light heavyweight at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea; and Dr. Benjamin A. Salinas, 65, who has served as a ringside physician for pro and amateur fights in the Valley for nearly 20 years. He was born in Edinburg, raised in Pharr and now lives in Weslaco.

Sunday’s event is scheduled to be held at Radisson Hotel McAllen, located at 2721 South 10th Street. A “meet and greet” session with the inductees plus several boxing champions from the Valley is designed for the media (3:30-4 p.m.) and open to all at 4 p.m. Dinner will be served starting at 5 p.m. with the induction ceremony to begin at 6 p.m.

Banquet tickets for the event are sold out.

Among those scheduled to appear at the “meet and greet” are Raul Marquez, SHOBOX commentator and world title holder; John Scully, formal ESPN commentator; Eric Molina, former title holder; Brandon Figueroa, current WBA title holder; Robert Garcia, current WBC title holder; Raul Casarez, former title holder; and Rafael Davila, vice president USA boxing LBC.

Also, the Valley’s top male and female amateur fighters for 2019 will be honored during the ceremony along with a top amateur referee and top amateur coach, both from the Valley.

Barrientes, a native of Mercedes, compiled a pro record of 27-11-1 with 17 knockouts from 1989-2007. He fought as a super lightweight. In 2004, he won the International Boxing Association’s world super lightweight title.

He started fighting as an amateur at age 8 in 1978. Altogether as an amateur and pro, he fought 34 years — 13 years as an amateur and 21 years as a pro.

“Boxing has been a very good part of my life because I think with all these people around me as corner men and things like that, it put me to following the right direction in life,” Barrientes said. “They told me not to get out of line, and that played a big role in my life. Unlike a lot of other boxers, I went to school and started my own business. Boxing is something that could end at any time, so you have to be ready for the next step (in life).”

Barrientes, who has a refrigeration business in Mercedes, is proud to be one of the first inductees in the RGV Boxing Hall of Fame.

“I’m honored to be inducted with these other great inductees, because after fighting for a long time as an amateur and a pro it takes a lot of work and a lot of discipline, so it’s great to be recognized,” he said. “Even as an amateur, you have to be in real good shape (to do well). All that work pays off in the end.”

For more information, call Tom Lindsey at (740) 352-7298.

By ROY HESS and STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writers

Who better to rely on for accurate hoops preseason predictions than basketball coaches?

Perhaps not sports writers.

Anyway, the Rio Grande Valley Basketball Coaches Association recently announced boys and girls rankings for each Valley district along with preseason Valley top 10s for each gender.

Girls basketball started last week, and the boys began Friday.

The Los Fresnos Falcons again enter the new season with some high expectations as the RGVBCA’s No. 1 boys team.

The Falcons have either won or shared five straight District 32-6A championships.

They’re feeling confident about their chances for district title No. 6 with three starters back in Elian Gonzalez, Ricky Altamirano and Tony Aldrighetti, all seniors.

“While the three returning starters were huge contributors last year, other players I expect big things from are freshman shooting guard Gerry Martinez and senior wing player Luis Gonzalez,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said. “We’re going for title No. 6.”

District 32-6A will be a focus of attention again, with strong teams such as Harlingen South, Harlingen High and Brownsville Hanna challenging the Falcons for top supremacy. San Benito and Brownsville Rivera can’t be discounted, either.

Rivera’s new coach is Jesus Alvarez. He replaces retired veteran coach Saul Villarreal.

South is ranked No. 9 in the RGVBCA poll.

“I have two starters back in Alex Rodriguez, a junior, and Brady Bennett, a senior,” Hawks coach Brian Molina said. “Brady is a four-year letterman and three-year starter. Alex is a three-year letterman and a two-year starter.

“This season, our strength will be our depth and athleticism,” Molina added.

Another team to watch is Harlingen High with Clayton Cretors as coach along with junior Michael Castillo and senior Jordan Crenshaw as returning starters.

“We look to be a team that gets up and down the court and plays in transition,” Cretors said. “Although we only have two returners, we have players with varsity experience and we expect to lean on those guys quite a bit.

“We have high expectations and look to compete for a district title,” Cretors added. “Our non-district schedule has some high quality teams that will prepare us for our very competitive district.”

Hanna returns one of 32-6A’s top players in Victor Campos, who quarterbacked the football team. Campos and fellow senior Cristian Torres return as starters for the Golden Eagles.

“We have a good combination of senior leaders and young players who will play big roles,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “It’s always going to be a challenge in tough, talented District 32-6A, where every game is so important.”

Sam Lucio, Fermin’s brother, returns as coach at Brownsville St. Joseph, where the Bloodhounds play in TAPPS. SJA has two returning starters as well in point guard Victor Salinas and post Luigi Cristiano.

“This season, we are looking to bounce back after a tough season last year,” Sam Lucio said. “We bring back a lot of talent from last season’s team. We were very young one year ago.

“Those young players learned a lot last season,” the SJA coach added. “With that experience, we are looking to compete for a TAPPS district championship.”

Also a team to watch is Brownsville Jubilee, which is playing in District 32-3A for the first time after previously competing in a charter school league.

Two of the proven smaller schools to watch in the area are Santa Rosa, which seems to make a deep playoff run every season, many times to state, and San Perlita, which advanced to the Region IV-2A Tournament last year and starts the new season at No. 10 in the RGVBCA rankings.

Santa Rosa coach Johnny Cipriano will have 11 of 12 players returning from last year’s team that made a deep run to the regional semifinal before bowing out to San Antonio Cole.

Sophomore C.J. Olivarez will run the point for the Warriors as one of the key pieces of a young core that includes Chris Vela, Mike Bermea and Adam Cavazos.

“Last year, we had a very young group,” Cipriano said. “Having such a young team and making the Sweet 16, that just heightened the expectations for this year. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that we can reach that expectation.”

The Trojans will have a sophomore-laden squad this season, centered by 6-foot-6 Tige Johnson, the reigning All-Valley Sports Awards Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“We’re just extremely young right now,” San Perlita coach Nathaniel Garza said. “We do return (five) players. … I guess the question marks around them is our young players and how our youth is going to develop.”

Other players to watch from San Perlita are senior Gabriel Lopez, junior James Herrera and senior point guard EJ Nieto.

Then there’s District 32-5A, which figures to be every bit as competitive as 32-6A this season.

Ranked in the RGVBCA top 10 from 32-5A are Brownsville Veterans Memorial at No. 7 and Mercedes at No. 8.

The Chargers opened their season Saturday with a home game against Corpus Christi Miller, the team that knocked out Brownsville Veterans in last year’s area round.

Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson thinks the Chargers will be approaching this season with a chip on their shoulders and a clear goal: to reach the Class 5A Region IV championship after falling short in last year’s regional quarterfinal.

“We feel like we should have made it to the regional tournament last year,” Gibson said. “Right after they beat us, I called their coach and asked them if they wanted to play us next year, and he said yes.”

Gibson’s expectations remain high for a group that graduated five players last year but retains four of its starters, including guard/forward Damian Maldonado.

“I think Damian’s the best player in the Valley,” Gibson said. “Damian’s an all-around player, he’s going to play some point guard for us this year.”

New to the starting lineup this season will be sophomore Jerry Casteneda.

Gibson added that bench depth was a strength of last year’s squad and is still a question mark for this season, but he expects Josh Silva to be play a significant role on the second unit.

The Chargers are coming off of a 32-7 regular season in 2018-19. They finished 13-1 in District 32-5A en route to a district title.

The path to repeating will be an arduous one, however.

“I think it’s going to be a dogfight,” Gibson said. “Everybody’s got to come to play every night. There’s no off nights. … I’m really looking forward to it. It’s one of the things that keeps me going, the competition and camaraderie that I have with everybody.”

Beyond Brownsville Veterans and Mercedes, another team looking for a return to the playoffs is Brownsville Pace.

“I have one starter back, sophomore point guard Cristian Guajardo, who was the All-Metro newcomer of the year last season and the Class 5A All-Valley newcomer of the year,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “I also have two other players who started a few games last season. They are sophomores Elias Fortaneli and Alexander Agado.

“Those three sophomores will be on our starting lineup with junior guard Abraham Rincon and senior forward Esequiel Hernandez,” Ramirez added. “We’re in a really tough district, and any team is capable of achieving what we aim to do. We’ll just take one game at a time and work to improve as the season progresses.”

The Brownsville Porter Cowboys hope to gain experience as the season progresses as well.

“We are returning three starters in Kevin Garcia, Daniel Morales and Rocco Almazan, and after that, the entire team is made up of new arrivals,” Cowboys coach Luis Garza said. “We’re optimistic we can turn the corner come district time. But we’re still treading cautiously. Right now, our team is extremely young, lacks (varsity) experience and depth.”

Other teams in the RGVBCA boys rankings that weren’t mentioned previously in this story are No. 2 McAllen Rowe, No. 3 Sharyland Pioneer, No. 4 Edinburg Vela, No. 5 PSJA North and No. 6 Weslaco High.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

FALFURRIAS —Brownsville Jubilee’s memorable volleyball season came to end against a veteran playoff opponent on Tuesday in the Class 3A regional quarterfinals.

The District 31-3A champion Corpus Christi London Lady Pirates defeated District 32-3A champion Jubilee 25-23, 25-23, 25-12 at Falfurrias.

London already has been to the Region IV-3A Tournament eight straight years, and thanks to Tuesday’s win, the Lady Pirates are going back. It starts Friday in San Antonio, where London is expected to face Poth or Industrial in the regional semifinals.

This is Jubilee’s first school year to play in UIL. The Lady Titans knew they were going up against a team with plenty of playoff experience in London.

“I told the girls coming into the match we were probably going to be the underdogs,” Jubilee coach Rebekah Perez said. “London has a very good team, but I thought our girls played very well, too. I’m proud of them for the season they had.”

The Lady Titans finished 32-5 on the year and won 32-3A with an 18-0 mark — not too bad for their first UIL outing. Only two seniors are graduating for the Lady Titans, who previously competed in a charter school league.

The Lady Pirates were led by Ashley Lynn, a 6-foot middle blocker/power hitter.

“This was a great win for us,” Lynn said. “We’re used to going to the regional tournament.”

The Lady Titans stayed with the Lady Pirates during the first two games and even led a couple times, but it was clearly London’s night as it earned a return trip to the 3A regional tournament.

During the opening set, London surged to an 8-1 advatage before the Lady Titans battled back to create five ties, the last of them at 19. From there, Jubilee stayed within one point of London until the Lady Pirates’ Kara Bucy hit a cross-court kill to win the first game 25-23.

There were 14 ties during the second set with Jubilee even taking a 13-10 lead at one point on a ball hit long by the Lady Pirates. But London rallied and went past the final tie of the set at 20 that happened on a ball hit into the net by the Lady Titans.

Jubilee hit the ball out of bounds on two of the last three points of the second set to give London a repeat 25-23 win.

The Lady Titans committed too many hitting mistakes early during the third game and couldn’t recover. They fell behind 15-6, 18-9 and 21-11 before a ball hit hard by Lynn was blocked out by a Jubilee player to give the Lady Pirates a 25-12 third-set victory and the match.

Stat leaders for Jubilee included Fernanda Bannak (eight assists, one ace), Valentina Tijerina (five kills), Daniela Bannak (five kills), Julissa Garza (14 assists) and Jazmine Gracia, Paola Vargas and Alexis Robinson (two blocks each).

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The San Perlita Lady Trojans look around and see there aren’t too many volleyball teams still playing at this point of the season.

But that’s OK because their season is still alive after two rounds of the playoffs, and they play today with a chance to qualify for the Region IV-2A Tournament later this week.

San Perlita’s 2A regional quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. today is against Freer at Kingsville High.

The winner goes to the regional tournament starting Friday in Brenham.

The San Perlita girls are eager to see if they can advance in the postseason.

“I feel confident that my girls will work hard together as a team and play hard until the end,” said San Perlita coach Criselda Rubalcaba, whose squad is 20-2 not counting tournaments this season. “All we focus on is going out every match and trying our best, and executing to the best of our ability.

“I have a great group of young women that work extremely hard,” Rubalcaba added. “It’s a blessing to coach them.”

The Lady Trojans are led by seniors Karime Rojas, Meagan Kinney, Modesta Garcia, Maiah Duarte and Briseida Maldonado. Rojas, Kinney and Garcia are team captains.

San Perlita is the District 32-2A champion. During the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Lady Trojans have beaten Agua Dulce 25-20, 25-21, 25-20 and Stacey 25-12, 25-15, 25-20.

Freer is the District 31-2A champion with playoff victories against Premont (25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-0) and Junction (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-20).

The San Perlita-Freer winner is expected to face District 27-2A champion Brazos or District 25-2A runner-up Thrall on Friday at the regional tournament.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

Playing its first school year in the University Interscholastic League has been quite an experience for the Brownsville Jubilee volleyball team.

It’s been a successful one at that.

The Lady Titans, 32-4 overall, won District 32-3A with an 18-0 record. They went on to capture playoff victories against Falfurrias 25-14, 25-20, 25-11 and Skidmore-Tynan 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 18-16 during the first two rounds of the postseason.

Next on tap for Jubilee is a 3A regional quarterfinal match against District 31-3A champion Corpus Christi London, traditionally a solid playoff performer, at 6:30 p.m. today in Falfurrias. The winner advances to the Region IV-3A Tournament starting Friday at Blossom Athletic Cener in San Antonio.

Today’s winner is expected to face Poth or Industrual on Friday.

This is Rebekah Perez’s first season as Jubilee’s coach. She’s impressed by the players she has on the team. Only two of them are seniors and will be graduating, so there’s a good chance Jubilee will field a strong team next season as well.

“I’m from the Rio Grande Valley, but I had never heard of Athlos or Jubilee Brownsville (before I came here),” Perez said. “I was maybe a little surprised with the talent that’s here, but not with how well we’ve done.

“I had never heard anything about ‘Little Jubilee,” but it’s kind of like a hidden treasure,” Perez added. “We’re working quietly and improving quietly. I think all the practice this team has had over the years is really showing.”

Team members are Kathrin Vasquez, Fernanda Bannak, Paola Vargas, Leslie Barrera, Alexis Robinson, Alondra Garcia, Daniela Bannak, Valentina Tijerina, Julissa Garza and Jazmine Gracia.

Fernanda Bannak and Garza are the team captains.

Tijerina said it’s a pleasure to play on the team.

“I like that the players on our team have a very good attitude,” said Tijerina, a junior outside hitter. “For that reason, we communicate more with each other and we can win more. This team doesn’t lack very much at all. We have a lot of confidence and intelligence as players. We believe we can win.”

Added teammate Gracia, a junior middle blocker, “I like it that everyone is always motivating each other, everyone depends on each other and has confidence in each other. It makes the team better. Even though we may be down a point sometimes, we always push to make up that point and get ahead.

“This season, to me, we had it (already) done (to do well),” Gracia added. “With everyone always motivated and depending on each other, we have a very good team. When we have someone who is down, we’re always going to pick them up no matter what.

“Having players like that, to me, I was expecting a season like this because we have a really good team, and everyone does her own part. All I want to say is thanks to everyone (that) we’ve made it this far. No matter what, this team is going to be a family and we’re always going to have each other’s back. This first year in the UIL has been the best.”

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

District 32-6A volleyball coaches believe their teams are entering the state playoffs well-prepared thanks to the high level of competition they faced during district competition.

The playoffs begin Monday.

Teams advancing to the postseason from 32-6A are district champion Los Fresnos along with Brownsville Rivera, Harlingen South and Brownsville Hanna.

Rivera and South finished tied for second place in 32-6A with 7-3 records behind 10-0 Los Fresnos. Rivera won a coin flip for the second-place seed in the playoffs from 32-6A.

Hanna defeated Harlingen High 26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22 in a “play-in” match Friday at Hanna for the district’s fourth-place spot in the postseason.

Coaches from 32-6A are anxious to see how district play has prepared their squads for the postseason.

“ The teams are tough in this district, and anybody can win,” Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “We had to be ready to play every match because I know the other teams were ready for us. Whether we beat them or lost to them (previously), we needed to be ready. I had to make sure our girls understood that every time (we played a district match).

“ This district’s matches have been awesome to get ready for the playoffs,” Avelar-Guerra added. “It’s been good because the matches are very competitive and the girls for both teams go all out. They’ve been a perfect preparation because they’re hard matches, and that’s what you need.”

That sentiment is shared around the district.

“ Our district this year is very tough,” said South’s Mikela Mireles, a senior all-around player and standout hitter. “A win against anyone in our district is huge. It’s really prepared us for going to play teams from other districts.

“ I’m really proud of my team,” Mireles added. “We’ve really pulled it together.”

Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said it wasn’t easy going undefeated through 32-6A this season.

“ You have to be ready to play every match in this district,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who you play. Any of the teams can beat you if you let your guard down. I think it’s prepared us very well for the playoffs.”

Added Los Fresnos junior outside hitter Tate Halford, “We graduated 10 seniors from last year, so this is a totally different team (than the one that won district last season). Not many of us had played together before this season, and I’m so proud of how we’ve come together. We’ve bonded and come so far.

“ I think if we all keep working together and keep giving it 100 percent, even when we’re down, we can do amazing (in the playoffs) and continue to get better and better,” Halford added. “We just need to keep each other going with a positive attitude. We try to encourage each other and lift each other up. We’re trying to make a name for ourselves (since the team’s past standouts have graduated).

“ We’re just trying to play our game and play our best to make a name for Los Fresnos.”

The Class 6A bi-district playoffs begin Monday with Rivera playing at 6:30 p.m. at District 31-6A third-place Edinburg High.

The other 32-6A teams play their bi-district matches Tuesday.

The schedule for those matches involving 32-6A teams at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday has Los Fresnos at 31-6A fourth-place Weslaco High, South at home against 31-6A runner-up Edinburg North and Hanna at 31-6A champion Edinburg Vela.

In District 32-5A, Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Edcouch-Elsa finished as co-champions. They played a playoff seeding match Saturday in Elsa. Brownsville Veterans won in five games to take 32-5A’s top seed in the playoffs. The Lady Chargers will play host to PSJA Southwest, the fourth-place team from District 31-5A, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for bi-district.

Besides Brownsville Veterans and E-E, the other two playoff teams from 32-5A are Donna High and Mercedes.

Another local team in the playoffs is Brownsville Jubilee, the winner of District 32-3A with an 18-0 record. The Lady Titans, whose captains are Fernanda Bannak and Julissa Garza, are 30-4 on the season.

It’s Jubilee’s first year playing in 32-3A.

The second round of the playoffs continue later next week.