By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
WESLACO — At the beginning of the volleyball season, Brownsville Veterans Memorial coach Lisa Mares said her young team was a work in progress. The team’s goal, she said, was to become “a masterpiece” by the end.
The Lady Chargers are certainly looking like they’re becoming a team of fine pedigree.
Brownsville Veterans held off a determined Sharyland Pioneer squad 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25 on Tuesday during the Class 5A bi-district playoffs at the Weslaco East gym.
“I’m honestly so excited,” said the Lady Chargers’ Pamela Sanchez, a senior outside hitter/defensive player. “We kind of played not to our best in district (and finished second after winning it the two previous seasons). This means a lot that we were able to be the (bi-district) champions tonight. Now we can move forward (in the playoffs).
“I think we were kind of like the underdogs,” Sanchez added. “This (win) motivates us and encourages us. We don’t have that much height, and it showed tonight that height doesn’t really matter. It’s more the courage we have together.”
Brownsville Veterans (35-14) was the runner-up in District 32-5A. Sharyland Pioneer (24-19) tied for second place with Sharyland High in District 31-5A.
In preparing for the postseason, it helped Brownsville Veterans that the Lady Chargers defeated 32-5A champion Edcouch-Elsa in straight sets on the final night of district action. It was the Lady Yellowjackets’ only district loss.
Now, thanks to their bi-district triumph, the Lady Chargers advance to the area round of the 5A playoffs later this week. They are expected to face Gregory-Portland, a bi-district winner in straight sets against Corpus Christi Carroll.
“We started off pretty well in this match, and we mixed it around with our hitting and tipping, and we caught Pioneer off-guard with the tipping a lot because they were blocking us, and I guess we’re not used to that so much,” Mares said. “I thought we really passed well, and that was one of our focuses (for this match). I knew doing a good job passing the ball was going to be a factor tonight.
“I’m just so proud of our girls for not giving up,” Mares added. “They lost a little confidence because they were getting blocked quite a bit. Props to Sharyland Pioneer for never quitting. They were still going strong until the very end.
“I told the girls, ‘Pioneer’s not just going to give you the match (because you’re ahead 2-0 after two games).’ Pioneer played hard the whole way.”
There were eight ties during the opening set and neither team led by more than three points.
With the score 24-23 in Brownsville Veterans’ favor, the Lady Chargers’ Valeria Sumaya hit the ball hard and it went off a Lady Diamondbacks player and out. That play gave Brownsville Veterans its 25-23 opening-set win.
Things were closely contested throughout the match. There were 12 ties during the second game, with the final deadlock coming at 17. The Lady Chargers eventually took the second set 25-22 when the Lady Diamondbacks had too many hits on a volley.
Sharyland Pioneer led by as many as five points six different times during the third game and never trailed during the set after the score was tied at 9. A double-hit call on the Lady Chargers enabled Sharyland Pioneer to win the third set 25-23, sending the match to a fourth game.
Befitting such a close, back-and-forth match, there were 10 ties during the final set. The last of them came at 25. The Lady Diamondbacks had been up 24-22 before Brownsville Veterans rallied to win.
With the score deadlocked at 25, Sharyland Pioneer had a block carry out to put Brownsville Veterans ahead 26-25. On the next point, the Lady Diamondbacks failed to follow through and complete a tip attempt and the ball fell harmlessly to the floor on their side, giving the Lady Chargers an emotional match victory.
“I told the girls in the locker room (prior to the match) that I’ve had so much fun coaching them,” Mares said. “The girls are young, and I’m just so excited (about their potential). This group of girls is great. They want to learn, and they practice hard.
“I told them, ‘I don’t want that to end, and I know you don’t want it to end, either,’” Mares added. “It’s exciting. We didn’t get the district title this time, but to them, they just want to keep going (in the playoffs) and see how far we can go.”
Sanchez led the Lady Chargers with 17 kills. She also had 28 digs. Dominique Mena added 15 kills, and Alexandra Parchmont had 44 digs. Daniella Espinosa contributed 48 assists, 26 digs and a pair of aces.
For Sharyland Pioneer, Daizy Coronado (16 kills, five blocks, three aces) and Daniela Alvarez (18 kills, five blocks) were leaders in kills and blocks.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess