BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg High came into this week with one goal in mind: get two wins.
Sounds easy right? The reality is anything but, as the Bobcats faced off with Weslaco High on Tuesday, before facing off with Edinburg Vela this Saturday. Weslaco and Vela were tied for the top spot in District 31-6A coming into Tuesday’s action.
EHS completed step one, defeating Weslaco 19-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-20 on Tuesday night at Edinburg High School.
“I’m glad that’s over,” EHS coach Deanna Dominguez “We were overcoming a bit of adversity today. Our second middle (Zarina Rodriguez) was out. She was very, very ill, yesterday. So our second middle that came in today, Bryhane Salinas, stepped up. (Salinas had 7 kills, 1 block and 1 dig)… Weslaco is a great team. They played very well together. Coach Axle (Valle) has done an amazing job over there. I’m very grateful that we got this win today.”
EHS, Edinburg North and Weslaco High are all tied for second in the district.
The game started close, as both teams exchanged salvos of offense. Weslaco pulled away in the first set, but the win just served as a wake-up call for the Bobcats.
Junior outside hitter Victoria Fuentes sparked the Bobcats, and got the momentum on EHS’ side.
“When I get blocked, everyone tells me, ‘just shake it off. It happens. It’s not the end of the world. Just keep doing your thing,’” said Fuentes who had 22 kills, 5 blocks, 1 ace and 5 digs. “So, I’m like ‘ok I got blocked, now let me see what is open.’ I go for the open shots, and it gets us points.”
Fuentes combined with one of the team’s few seniors Renee Ponce, form the teeth of the Bobcats’ attack, and when they get going, they are hard to stop.
“Victoria is somebody that we expect those points to come from,” Dominguez said. “She is our go-to player. … Renee Ponce finds the holes, she finds the girls, no matter how horrible the pass might be. She finds a way. She stepped it up for us in that fourth set with her service game.”
Ponce finished the night with 9 kills, 2 aces, 26 digs and 26 assists.
As the pace of the EHS balls started to pick up, midway through the second set and into the third, the Weslaco defense couldn’t find the solution. Many of EHS’ balls shot just past a Weslaco defender, and even when Weslaco got a hand on the ball, the Panthers couldn’t do enough to keep their attacks alive.
An already small EHS bench was even more depleted by the absence of Rodriguez. The Bobcats put in a lot of work throughout the year to make sure they can withstand the rigors of long matches without much rest.
“Our girls have to be super tough and we work them really, really tough,” Dominguez said. “They will tell you about their summer workouts. They will tell you about Wednesday-Thursday workouts. They know we have to have that conditioning and endurance to give max effort play after play, and still be able to endure those long rallies and chase down all these odd shot balls that go almost into the bleachers. We expect them to hustle for those balls, and find a way to finish.”
“We work a lot on conditioning,” freshman libero Arianna Guerra said. “Our coach makes sure that if we go to five sets, we don’t tire out. We take conditioning very seriously, because then we always know that other schools can’t go the distance with us.”
Guerra was playing on the back line for Barrientes Middle School a calendar year ago. She was playing JV at the beginning of the year. Now, Guerra is starting and getting crucial playing time, and she is responding with crucial plays.
“She is really a hustler and she is all heart,” Dominguez said. “She is learning too, on the fly. She’s another kid who has been stepping it up.”
Guerra had 32 digs and 1 ace on Tuesday.
Fuentes remembers her freshman year, and the stresses it brought.
“I love (Guerra), Fuentes said. “I know it’s tense for her, because when I was a freshman, there was only two of us, and that was very intense for me. But, with her, she’s all alone. I give her a lot of props. I wouldn’t know how to handle that. She is doing very well.”
With the win, part one is done. Now it is time for part two.
“We are going to go hard in practice over the next three games,” Fuentes said. “That is what prepares us for this rivalry game with Vela.”
Fuentes said she grew up with a lot of the girls on the Vela team, and they are very close.
“They are like my sisters. We fight, but then we make up, we love each other,” she said.
But on Saturday, it will be all business.
“I’m really proud of the way that they have progressed,” Dominguez said. “We have had our lapses here and there, but for the most part, we weren’t expected to do very much this year. Now, these last two games are huge. We need to win out to give ourselves the best opportunity.”
“We really want to be district champs so bad,” Guerra said. “We want to close out the season with all wins.”