By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Anticipating a possible spot in the playoffs, the IDEA Frontier volleyball team continues to rely on the experience of seniors Michaela Elbert and Shanelle Flores.
lbert and Flores, a pair of 5-foot-6 outside hitters, have helped the Brownsville charter school move into position to possibly finish third or fourth in District 32-3A. The Lady Chargers are tied with Lyford and Edinburg Quest in the chase for the district’s two final postseason berths.
IDEA Frontier is open Tuesday and must wait on the outcomes of matches involving the other two teams to see if there will be a play-in match or matches later in the week that would enable the Lady Chargers to reach the postseason.
IDEA Frontier coach Cassie Hinojosa said having the two senior standouts on the squad has been a big plus.
“As seniors, Michaela and Shanelle have helped us a lot with our underclassmen by guiding them in the right direction,” said Hinojosa, a first-year coach for the Lady Chargers. “They’ll be leaving us (due to graduation), so I’m hoping they’ve made an impact on our freshmen, sophomores and juniors.
“In game situations, they’ve brought everything they can to the court,” Hinojosa added. “We hope they get a chance to play more volleyball (in the playoffs).”
Flores attempts to pass along what she has learned to her younger teammates.
“I just try to motivate the girls and tell the younger ones about things they can improve on or about things that I did wrong that they can do better than I did,” Flores said. “They have a lot of potential.
“It would mean the world to me to get to the playoffs,” she added. “I’ve been playing quite a while for our school, and I’ve seen us go from the bottom (of the standings) to where we are now. We’ve come so far, and that’s why it would mean so much.”
The two girls started playing volleyball for IDEA Frontier in sixth grade. They began playing the sport on separate teams as fifth-graders. They’ll soon be playing basketball for the Lady Chargers.
“We’ve had a good team each year that I’ve played, and as it’s gone on our program has developed and we’ve played more as a team,” Elbert said. “We’re a team and we play as a team, so that’s really helped us along the way.
“We’ve clicked this year and we have a true bond,” Elbert added. “I’ve been on the varsity since I was a freshman, and for us to make history by getting to the playoffs (for the first time) this year it would be great, especially as a senior.
“I’m really honored to be playing on this team with such a great group of girls. It’s just been awesome.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.