NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — On senior night, the Edinburg Vela SaberCats showed their maturity against Weslaco High, which entered the evening alone at the top of District 31-6A.
Vela swept the match 25-21, 25-15, 25-23 to improve 6-2, the same as the Panthers after the loss. The SaberCats own the 2-0 head-to-head
“I think that this game we came to play and we just wanted it a lot more because it was on our home court and we know what was on the line.” SaberCats senior setter Analisa Campos said after the win.
In the first meeting between the two squads, on Sept. 17, the Panthers were the aggressors and won the first two sets. Vela was able to come from the 0-2 deficit to win the match in five.
This time around Weslaco had similar plans to start quick. The Panthers started the match on a 6-1 run but Vela coach Araceli Ortega called an important timeout that her team positively responded to.
“We knew that Weslaco was going to give us a good match, they were standing in first alone for a reason,” Ortega said. “The errors can accumulate if we don’t fix it. We just told them ‘take a deep breath. We’re not going to start this way. Just try to even it up somewhere and play it 0-0 from there.’”
In the second set, Campos got the SaberCats off to a strong start. After seven points they had the same 6-1 lead that Weslaco enjoyed in the first set. Her serve also kick-started a four-point run later in the set.
Campos, who had 29 assists and 17 digs, was modest about her serve.
“I’m not the strongest server but I am pretty consistent,” Campos said. “I just worry about getting the ball over because I know once we get the ball back we’re able to put it down.”
Junior Glenys Maldonado said the rotation was something that made the team more comfortable.
“That rotation, in particular, is pretty good because the defense is pretty solid,” Maldonado said. “We still have Ana setting up in the front and we got the hitters up in the front too.”
She led the team in kills with 21 in the three sets, Maldonado added 19 digs and two aces.
Maldonado, who is known for hitting, said it was the defense that led to the victory.
“Our defense was a lot more solid,” Maldonado said. “When you get that defense, you get that set then you get that offense. Our defense had a huge impact on today’s play.”
Vela needed to slow the hitting of Panthers Daniella Garza and Illiyah Cantu who had bright moments at points of the match. Weslaco’s offense was stymied by the block and often overhit to avoid SaberCats blockers.
Senior Miranda Negrete was a valuable part of the offense, putting home eight kills. She said the team’s improvement from round one is simply playing cleaner volleyball.
“We kind of just cleaned up our errors. We know we made a lot the first round and we just wanted to polish that up,” Negrete said.
Vela wraps up their schedule with an open date this Saturday followed by matches away against Donna North, Edinburg High and Weslaco East.
“Going to playoffs you want to go on a high note and I think ending district with wins will really set you there,” Negrete said. “It’s important to get on that high and play on that high level so that going into bi-district you don’t fall.”