By ROY HESS
Staff Writer
Considering all the twists and turns District 32-6A volleyball has experienced this season, especially among the four teams not in the district lead, it seems appropriate that the uncertainty and drama surrounding the playoff race should continue at least one more night.
The final round of 32-6A matches is on tap at 6:30 p.m. today with Brownsville Hanna at Harlingen South, San Benito at Los Fresnos and Harlingen High at Brownsville Rivera.
Hanna and Los Fresnos are tied for the district lead at 8-1 and need wins against the Lady Hawks and Lady Greyhounds to become 32-6A co-champions. The Lady Golden Eagles and Lady Falcons are already in the playoffs.
As for the other four teams, San Benito, South and Rivera are all 3-6, and Harlingen High is 2-7. In one crazy, yet somewhat possible scenario, all four squads could theoretically wind up tied for third place at 3-7, creating a “play-in” scenario in which two of the four would advance to the postseason.
Hanna put itself in position for a district championship or co-championship with a huge five-set win (22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 29-31, 15-10) at home Saturday against Los Fresnos.
“The plan would be to finish as co-champs, but we still have a big stepping stone (against South),” Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “We’re going to take that match very seriously. As I’ve said before, this is a very balanced district. We know we’ve got to work hard for a win (at South).”
Harlingen High coach Joslynn Torres views 32-6A the same way.
“Oh my gosh, every match is a tossup,” she said recently. “It’s a tossup between all six of us (regardless who is playing).”
Stay tuned for any possible “play-in” matches later this week.
Edinburg Vela, Weslaco High, Edinburg North and Edinburg High appear to be the likely opponents from District 31-6A awaiting bi-district matchups with 32-6A teams when the playoffs begin Oct. 29 and 30.
32-5A UPDATE: Three of four teams from District 32-5A already are headed to the playoffs. They are Edcouch-Elsa (13-0), Brownsville Veterans Memorial (11-2) and Donna High (10-3).
The final round of 32-5A matches is at 7 p.m. today with Brownsville Veterans at E-E, Valley View (0-13) at Donna High, Brownsville Porter (4-9) at Brownsville Pace (3-10), and Mercedes (5-8) at Brownsville Lopez (6-7).
Lopez needs a win to make its third straight trip to the playoffs. Mercedes can force a “play-in” match with the Lady Lobos later this week with a victory today.
The Lady Lobos defeated the Lady Tigers in four games Sept. 29 when the two teams played during the first round of district in Mercedes.
“We work really hard in our practices, and everything is paying off,” said Lopez’s Olga Arozena, a junior middle blocker/outside hitter. “We stay together, and we have a bond. We’re all together, and we’re united. I feel like that helps us a lot. We cheer each other up (when things get tough).
“I hope we make it to the playoffs,” she added. “That’s our goal.”
32-4A UPDATE: La Feria clinched its third straight outright District 32-4A championship thanks to last Tuesday’s 25-13, 25-5, 25-14 win at home against Grulla.
During that match, standouts for the Lionettes were Karina Diaz (19 assists, two kills), Sierra Salinas (six kills, seven digs), Felicity Watson (16 digs), Natalie Gonzalez (seven kills, three aces, six digs), Jeno Ochoa (three kills), Mary Winton (two kills, two blocks) and Aaliyah Stewart (two kills, two digs).
The final round of 32-4A matches was played Monday night after the district had an open date Saturday. It was La Feria (12-1) at Rio Hondo (7-6), Progreso (4-9) at Port Isabel (2-11), Hidalgo (10-3) at Grulla (6-7) and Zapata (8-5) at Raymondville (2-11).
TO THE PLAYOFFS: During its first season of TAPPS district competition, St. Joseph Academy finished as the conference runner-up with a 5-3 record. The Lady Bloodhounds are 21-11 overall.
SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said her team is waiting to find out where it will play its first playoff match. She is also waiting to find out the opponent, although she knows the match is set for Oct. 30.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.