ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons went from starting off as a volleyball team with unknown potential to becoming a repeat District 32-6A champion during the 2019 season.
The nucleus of their title team from one year ago — 10 seniors — had graduated, leaving just a couple of players with varsity experience to test the waters and make their own way during the 2019 season.
As anyone familiar with the Los Fresnos volleyball program can attest, it’s a program with plenty of depth that attracts more than 100 athletes at the start of every season in August.
Drawing upon that depth, the result in 2019 was yet another 32-6A championship with many new faces in the lineup. The Lady Falcons won the district title with a 10-0 record before advancing two rounds in the Class 6A playoffs.
Becky Woods, The Brownsville Herald’s 2019 All-Metro Volleyball Coach of the Year, was the architect of another district winner. It came during a season in which Woods completed her 35th year of coaching at Los Fresnos and reached the 700-win plateau in August at the Poundfest Tournament in McAllen.
The All-Metro area includes Brownsville, Los Fresnos and Port Isabel.
“The credit for what we’ve done goes back to the players, the coaching staff and everyone who has helped these girls learn to play volleyball, including their club coaches,” Woods said. “I’m blessed and fortunate to have these girls playing on our varsity team. There are many people who deserve the credit for our success.”
Two Los Fresnos players from this past season’s 36-9 team are among the top honorees on the All-Metro squad. They are seniors Jasmin Garcia and Clarissa Esquibel. Garcia is the All-Metro MVP and Esquibel is the co-setter of the year with Rivera’s Clarissa Olivares. Both finished with a little more than 1,000 assists.
The girls say they’ve enjoyed playing for their coach.
“It’s amazing and fun to play for Coach Woods,” Garcia said.
Added Esquibel, “Coach Woods is the best. She loves to win, and we love to win for her.”
For the record, Esquivel finished her one year on the varsity as a senior with 1,066 assists.
“I’m glad I decided to play my senior year,” Esquibel said. “It was exciting because we all played together and pulled through.
“Getting an award as a setter was something I didn’t expect to do,” Esquibel added. “It’s because of the ones I had by my side (as teammates).”
Woods said she was impressed with the way Esquibel adapted to varsity competition as the season continued.
“It was unreal how Clarissa progressed,” Woods said. “All the sets were on her shoulders. She worked her tail off and did it all with a smile.”