By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Hanna volleyball team was looking for something positive to happen after last week.

“We had a week from hell,” Lady Eagles coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “We got defeated by Los Fresnos and San Benito, and then we lost one of our players due to an ACL injury, so it wasn’t a good week at all. It all came in one week, so it was a little bit much.”

Things went better for the Lady Eagles Tuesday as they captured a 25-12, 20-25, 25-18, 25-13 District 32-6A victory at home against the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals.

The win leaves Hanna in a tie for second place in 32-6A with Rivera and San Benito, all with 4-2 records.

Los Fresnos leads the district at 5-0 after a 21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 win at home against Rivera Tuesday. Also, San Benito defeated Weslaco High 25-10, 25-23, 25-16.

“Hanna played better than we did today,” Lady Cardinals coach Jennifer Martinez said. “We just didn’t show up. They deserved the victory. They fought all the way through and we fell short.”

Harlingen High next plays Saturday at home against San Benito while Hanna goes to Weslaco East the same day as 32-6A action continues.

Things looked very good for Hanna in the opening game as the Lady Eagles surged out to a 21-5 advantage en route to taking the first set 25-12.

The Lady Eagles were sparked in the opening game by their serving as Xitlali Montes de Oca served three aces, Ryan Wood two and Laure Webb one in helping Hanna to its 21-5 advantage.

Yazmine Martinez was a standout hitter for the Lady Cardinals (3-3), who led 20-18 and outscored Hanna 5-2 down the stretch in the second game to prevail 25-20.

But the Lady Eagles regained their momentum in the third and fourth games to win 25-18 and 25-13 to take the match.

“We were excited about the match tonight,” Hagemann said. “We knew it was going to be important. Right now we’ve got four wins (in the first half of district), so we’re in good shape in the playoff race, but we’re nowhere near the finish.

“Harlingen has a good team with some good hitters and they have a very good defense,” he added. “They picked up many of our hits. Congrats to their defense because they made it a struggle for us. But I think our girls performed very well tonight, and I’m happy that they won and with the way they played.”

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Cupcakes always taste better after a victory.

The Rivera Lady Raiders found that to be true Saturday as they celebrated Parents Appreciation Day at their gym during a District 32-6A volleyball match against Weslaco East.

Before the teams warmed up, parents of the Rivera players were introduced and treated to cupcakes and refreshments. Players and coaches had to wait their turn until after the match to receive their goodies.

The Lady Raiders wasted little time in sweeping past the Lady Wildcats 25-15, 25-10, 25-15 to improve to 4-1 in 32-6A heading into Tuesday’s important showdown at 5-0 Los Fresnos .

Within a minute or two after the match ended, each of the Rivera players had a cupcake in her hand and was celebrating the team’s latest district triumph, its fourth in a row.

“It felt very good to win today because going into our next match, we need the momentum,” said Stephanie Garza, a junior outside hitter/back row defensive player for Rivera. “We need to feel (confident and) prepared for that next match.

“I’m very proud of my team,” Garza added. “We played together as a team and we won as a team today, and that’s it.”

Teammate Litzy Medina, a junior outside hitter, was in agreement.

“We played aggressively and everyone was hustling for the ball,” Medina said. “We made some errors, but we overcame them, and that shows we’re pushing forward and building up our momentum. I’m so proud of this team.”

Lady Raiders coach Elizabeth Avelar -Guerra said her girls seemed a bit nervous early in the match as they apparently were feeling some pressure to do well with their parents watching.

“They were a little hesitant to start off, and I told them, ‘What’s the difference? Your parents are always here to see you play,’” Avelar-Guerra said. “‘The only difference is we just put up some balloons, that’s all.’ They were like, ‘Oh yeah,’ and then they came together as a team and played hard. They did an awesome job today.

“This group has worked hard, even since the summer,” Avelar-Guerra added. “Their parents are very supportive. Before, we would have maybe one or two that played club ball. Of this group, they’re all playing club. They’re working out on their own and they’re very dedicated. It’s a young team, but these girls work hard all year long.”

There were five early ties during the opening game, the last of which came at 7-7. After that, Rivera took control of the match against the Lady Wildcats (0-5).

The Lady Raiders were led by Medina’s 11 kills. Also for Rivera, Garza had eight kills and seven digs, while Victoria Zuniga added seven kills. Kourtney Shears contributed 16 assists, 13 digs and three aces, while Lilian Vera had 14 assists and four aces. Madelaine Blanco added 12 digs.

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, Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS — Still undefeated and No. 1 in the Rio Grande Valley.

The San Benito Greyhounds, the Valley’s top-ranked team by RGVSports.com, remained perfect on the season at 4-0 by opening District 32-6A action with a 34-26 victory over the Los Fresnos Falcons on Friday at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.

The Falcons, ranked No. 4 in the Valley, slipped to 2-2 overall with their second straight setback at home, having suffered a 32-30 loss against McAllen Memorial last week.

It wasn’t at all easy for the Greyhounds, who battled back from deficits of 13-0, 20-17 and 26-24 in the back-and-forth, closely-fought contest.

“This is amazing,” San Benito quarterback Erick Retta said. “(Thinking about) last year when we lost to them by seven points (14-7), I had it in my mind that we had to get our team moving (and win).

“Our mentality was just to keep on moving the ball (and score points),” Retta added. “We just had to keep going. This feels great. We have to thank our offensive line for the job those guys did to help us move the ball.”

A pair of first-quarter touchdown runs of 19 and 64 yards by John Salazar put Los Fresnos ahead 13-0, but San Benito came back to close the gap to 13-10 by the end of the opening period on a 20-yard pass from Retta to Isaiah Trevino and a 23-yard field goal by Guillermo Estrada.

Trevino caught TD passes of 25 and 50 yards from Retta during the second quarter to give the Greyhounds a 24-20 edge at intermission as the Falcons tallied on a 9-yard TD pass from Mark Mata to Daniel Garcia, also in the second period.

San Benito led 31-26 after three quarters.

Los Fresnos went ahead for the last time, 26-24, with 8:47 showing in the third period when Alex Garcia scored on a 63-yard pass-and-run play after making a reception from Mata and weaving his way downfield to the end zone.

San Benito took the lead for good, 31-26, with 46 seconds left in the third quarter when Marcelino Morales rammed his way into the end zone from 2 yards out.

Estrada’s 22-yard field goal with 2:58 remaining was the only score of the fourth quarter and it provided the undefeated Greyhounds with their eight-point margin of victory, 34-26.

Salazar rushed for 162 yards for the Falcons, while Tyrone Harper gained 121 yards on the ground for San Benito.

Friday marked the third time the two teams have met in 32-6A competition. Previously against each other in 32-6A action, Los Fresnos won 14-7 last year, while San Benito triumphed 17-14 the season before.

Prior to that, the two squads opened the season with a non-district matchup against one another in 2012 and 2013 and they split the games with the Falcons prevailing 24-16 in 2013 and the Greyhounds wwinning 16-7 in 2012.

District play continues for both squads next week as San Benito is at home against Weslaco East and Los Fresnos is at Harlingeen South.

By ROY HESS/Staff Writer

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowgirls have a little winning streak going in District 32-5A volleyball.

Coming off a victory in four games against Pace last Tuesday, the Cowgirls followed it up with Saturday’s 26-24, 25-23, 28-26 triumph against Donna North.

Porter takes a 2-1 district record into its next match Tuesday at Donna High, which is also 2-1.

Against Donna North, the Cowgirls were without two of their main starters, both seniors. It meant other girls had to play out of position, including sophomore Rachel Reyes, typically a back row player who was called upon to move up front as an outside hitter.

“Rachel is 5-foot-nothing and she was out of position,” Porter coach Ariel Arredondo said. “She walked away with some smart kills (to help us win).

“My entire team rallied together to dominate as a whole to take that win from Donna North,” Arredondo added. “We were able to stay in the match through the leadership of my senior Valerie Jimenez, who played out of position as well to fill a needed spot, and my sophomore setter Brigitte Ortiz. Also, we wouldn’t have been able to stay in any of our long rallies without my sophomore libero, April Reyes, who is Rachel’s twin.”

Arredondo said after Porter defeated Pace last week she believed the win would give her team confidence to go out and capture additional victories, and the Cowgirls proved her words true with their performance Saturday.

In other 32-5A matches Saturday, Brownsville Veterans Memorial edged Edcouch-Elsa 25-21, 27-25, 23-25, 29-27; Mercedes downed Pace 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 17-25, 15-10; and Donna High defeated Lopez 25-20, 25-16, 25-12.
Besides Porter at Donna High on Tuesday, it’s Donna North at Pace, Lopez at Brownsville Veterans and E-E at Mercedes.
Brownsville Veterans leads 32-5A at 3-0, while Porter, E-E and Donna High are all 2-1. Also, it’s Lopez 1-1, Mercedes 1-2, Donna North 0-2 and Pace 0-3.

ALONE AT THE TOP
Brownsville Veterans put itself all alone atop the 32-5A standings thanks to Saturday’s important win at E-E.
It’s still very early in the district race, so the Lady Chargers aren’t getting too excited just yet, but it still feels good to be 3-0.

“We have to just keep going at it because everyone is going to play hard against us,” Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares said. “It’s a little scary being up there at 3-0 because it means more pressure, but it’s OK. We just have to keep going (and play well).”

The Lady Chargers have some multi-sport athletes. Among them are Paola Villarreal and Lizbeth Aguillon. They ran cross country at a meet in Corpus Christi on Saturday morning and made it back to the Valley that afternoon in time to play volleyball at E-E and help the Lady Chargers win.

DISTRICT 32-6A
Hanna and Los Fresnos are co-leaders at 3-0 in District 32-6A. The Lady Falcons, defending district champions, play host to Hanna at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a match to determine which team will have sole possession of the 32-6A lead.

After three matches in 32-6A, Los Fresnos and Hanna are atop the standings at 3-0, while Rivera and Harlingen High are 2-1, San Benito and Weslaco High are 1-2, and Harlingen South and Weslaco East are 0-3.

Other matches Tuesday in 32-6A find Weslaco High at Rivera, San Benito at Harlingen South and Harlingen High at Weslaco 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, Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons never let Hanna get much going in the way of momentum en route to sweeping past the Lady Golden Eagles 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 in Tuesday’s volleyball match between District 32-6A co-leaders.

The win at home keeps the defending district champion Lady Falcons on top of the district standings at 4-0, while Hanna slips to 3-1 with some challenging matches ahead.

“This was a match I was worried about, and I’m glad it’s over,” Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. “(Earlier this season) we scrimmaged Hanna, we played them in a tournament and then we saw them in another tournament. Every time we saw them, they kept looking better, and I told our girls that Hanna was going to be 3-0 (in district) when we played them.
“We’re not big with our blocking this year, so we have to play well and rely on our back court,” Woods added. “Tonight we needed (senior hitter) Jackie (Kingsbury) to be on and we needed to play well on defense. Our girls feed off each other. With Jackie doing what she was doing, it affected the other girls in a positive way. I think that’s what makes us a dangerous team.”

After seeing the Lady Falcons take the first two games 25-14 and 25-16, the Lady Eagles did their best to battle back in the third game. But they just couldn’t pull away after leading by as many as three points on five occasions, including the final time at 21-18 when the Lady Falcons hit the ball out of bounds.

From there, Los Fresnos reeled off the next seven points and won the game 25-21 when Hanna hit the ball out on match point.

Kingsbury led the Lady Falcons with 22 kills, 19 digs and one block.

“The Lady Falcons did a fantastic job tonight,” Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “They were on top of us the whole match. We tried to come back during the third game and we came close, but Kingsbury was just amazing. They could make a set for her from the parking lot if they wanted (and she would still get the kill). She’s a lot to handle for any defense, not only with her hitting, but with the plays she makes from the back, too. I thought Los Fresnos also did a good job of picking up our hits.

“We have some tough matches back to back as we go to San Benito Saturday, so it’s a challenging week for Hanna,” he added. “It was unfortunate for us that we lost tonight, but I’m pleased with the way my team is playing.”

Laure Webb and Ryan Wood finished with six and five kills, respectively for Hanna.

Besides Kingsbury, also for Los Fresnos, Giselle Ibarra had eight kills, six digs and one block, while Ashley Tumlinson had 11 digs, five aces, three kills and one block. Cassie Parra added seven digs and six kills. Isis Delgado had 27 digs and Sarah Villarreal finished with 38 assists and five digs.

By ROY HESS /Staff Writer

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

PORT ISABEL — Valley View’s Giovanna Ventura and Laredo Cigarroa’s Leroy Raya, both juniors, finished as individual champions for the first time this season at Saturday’s Sylvia H. Torres Memorial Cross Country Meet at the Port Isabel High School campus.

Porter captured the boys team title with 28 points while Cigarroa was the girls team champion with 30 points.

The annual meet was renamed this year to honor the memory of Torres, a former teacher/coach for 27 years in the Point Isabel school system who lost her life to cancer one year ago at age 51.

The meet is usually run at South Padre Island on the beach at Andy Bowie Park, but it was moved to the high school for the second straight year due to health risks posed by the red tide.

Ventura said there were many to thank after her victory. She finished the course of approximately 5,000 meters in 20 minutes, 56 seconds and won by a comfortable margin over second-place finisher Rose Armendariz of Cigarroa.

“I thank God, all my coaches, my parents and all my teammates,” Ventura said. “They keep pushing me and it makes me a better runner. I could never do this without God. I know He’s with me. I’m always talking to Him while I’m running. Sometimes I end the race and I don’t know just how I finished because I’ve been so busy talking to Him. He gives me strength and pushes me (to do well).

“I’m so excited because I got a ‘PR’ (personal record) today,” Ventura added. “I’ve been working so hard for this. I don’t get out too fast in my races, but I really want it and by the two-mile mark, that’s when I really start going. A win like this keeps pushing me forward. I want to get a (college) scholarship, so doing this gives me confidence that I can do it.”

After Ventura and Armendariz, the next three finishers to round out the top five in the girls varsity race were Cigarroa’s Alexa Reyes (22:17), Athos Leadership’s Gio Pena (22:35) and Valley View’s Arely Ramirez (22:38).

Raya was a decisive winner as well in the boys varsity race. It was run over the same course of approximately 5,000 meters. Raya won in 17:19 and Port Isabel’s Shawn Shrewsbury was second in 18:25. The next three finishers were all from Porter — Alejandro Vasquez (18:26), Jesus Delgadillo (18:26) and Jonathan Gracia (18:27).

Raya said the Cigarroa team bus left school at 3:30 a.m. to reach the meet in time to warm up and race. Coming in first made such a long trip all worthwhile, he said.

“I felt real confident and I knew I was going to get first (by the way the race was going with me gaining an early lead),” Raya said. “With all the training I’ve been doing since the summer, I’ve been progressing. This is just like (following) my game plan. Next week, I’m going to run the race the same way and try to get first again. I’ll try to start fast and stay in front. I knew the other guys (in today’s race) were going to come out and compete hard, so I wanted to start fast and and get into the lead. That’s what I was able to do.”

In the junior varsity division, St. Joseph Academy was the boys team champion while Port Isabel captured the girls team crown.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

ELSA — The Brownsville Veterans Memorial volleyball team entered the Edcouch-Elsa gym Saturday as serious as could be with its game face on for an important District 32-5A match against the always tough Lady Yellowjackets.

The Lady Chargers exited the building a few hours later all smiles. In between, there were plenty of tense, anxious moments in the back-and-forth, closely contested match between 32-5A co-leaders.

E-E is always a difficult place to play regardless of the sport. On this day, before a lively, vocal crowd, the Lady Chargers emerged with a hard-fought 25-21, 27-25, 23-25, 29-27 victory to become sole owners of the district lead at 3-0.

Even though the Lady Jackets came out on the short end of the first two games, they never gave up, and from the outset it was a match every bit as close as the score indicated.

“We went five games (at home) against them last year in non-district and that was when we had a really good team, so I knew it would be very tough today, and that’s what I told our girls,” Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares said. “After we won the first two games, I told the girls we just couldn’t expect them to hand the match over to us, and they didn’t.

“When we lost that third game, I said, ‘What did I tell you guys?’” Mares added. “Right before the fourth game, I asked them, ‘So do you want to go to a fifth game (if we lose this fourth set)?’ Show me that you guys want it more. I wanted them to play with urgency because every point matters. Finally at the end I’m glad they put it away (in four games).”

With the Lady Chargers leading the match 2-0, the score was tied at 23 in the third game before E-E came up with a kill to go ahead 24-23 and won 25-23 when Brownsville Veterans failed to return a volley.

The two teams then went to a fourth game where there were 13 ties, including deadlocks in the score at 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27. Neither team could gain enough of an advantage to close out the set. Finally, an unforced hitting error by the Lady Yellowjackets gave the Lady Chargers a 28-27 edge and Brownsville Veterans quickly followed up on the next point with the win to clinch the match as Victoria Huerta sent a strong ball over the net that went off an E-E player and carried out of bounds for a 29-27 score.

The Lady Chargers are now 18-12 overall and 3-0 in district, while E-E is now 15-12 and 2-1.

Bridget Himes led the Lady Chargers with 15 kills. She also had two aces and one block. Huerta added 11 kills and nine digs, while Cassandra Valdez had five kills, 45 assists, six aces and 21 digs. Also for Brownsville Veterans, libero Paola Villarreal finished with 33 digs and Rebecca Cardenas had five kills and four blocks.

For E-E, Paloma Ybarra finished with 11 kills, five digs and three blocks while Sieanna Ortiz added seven kills, six digs, three blocks and two assists. Also for E-E, Ale Martinez had four kills, 11 blocks, three digs and one ace. Jackie De Los Santos contributed 20 assists with 11 digs while libero Jackie Alvarado finished with 30 digs.

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