By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
It took five games to settle the match between Hanna and Harlingen South on Saturday.
The Lady Eagles surrendered a 2-0 lead in games but ultimately won 25-16, 31-29, 23-25, 22-25, 18-16.
The momentum and feel of the contest swayed throughout the match. At first, it looked as though Hanna’s ability to win a lengthy second game would be enough to put the team over the top.
However, the Lady Hawks (19-5, 2-3) showed the ability to bounce back and won two close games, both of they trailed late.
The fifth and deciding game contained elements of the entire match. First, a 7-5 lead put Hanna (24-12, 4-1) in control, but Harlingen South stormed back with five consecutive points, forcing Lady Eagles’ coach Ansgar Hagemann to call a timeout.
“I told the girls not to drop their head and believe they can do it,” he said after the game. “(Our team) won sets against (Harlingen South) so obviously they can win the fifth one, too.”
The pep talk worked, and Hanna had the edge late with a 13-11 lead. Harlingen South coach Brian Molina called a timeout in a late attempt to rally his team, and the Lady Hawks won three straight points to extend the match.
Hanna proved tougher down the stretch, though, and won five of seven points to close out the match.
“I thought, overall, our girls gave a pretty good effort,” Molina said. “If we keep giving that type of effort, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.
“Even through a loss I thought this was probably one of our better matches.”
After the match, Hagemann had some words with his team. He told them they needed to keep working at practice in order to prevent close matches like the one in which they were involved Saturday from happening in the future.
“Whenever you win (a game) by two points, you win by luck,” he said. “Even though it was probably a great game to watch, it was a very tough game to coach.”
Hanna’s Pam Ellis led all players with 26 kills, and teammate Flora Herrera added 18. Tina Montez and Emily Susen led the Lady Hawks in kills with 22 and 16, respectively.
Taylor Garcia led the Lady Eagles in digs with 35, and Harlingen South’s Miranda Valdez had 30.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.