By FREDDY GONZALEZ
Staff Writer
LA FERIA — The La Feria Lionettes earned a little redemption Saturday against the Hidalgo Lady Pirates.
After dropping the first meeting between the rivals at Hidalgo, the Lionettes were motivated to get some payback and did by defeating the Lady Pirates 25-14, 22-25, 23-25, 25-12, 15-12.
The win puts the Lionettes at 9-1 and one step closer to clinching a share of the district title. The loss drops Hidalgo to 8-2, one game behind the Lionettes.
“We started off the match in a dominant fashion so it gave me a good feeling, but Hidalgo came back and won the next two sets,” Fraga said. “We came back in the fourth set and executed as planned, but in the fifth set it was just a nail biter.
“When we played the first game (at Hidalgo) we played five as well, and we played five again today. We obviously wanted to win today and we were a little more consistent, but we were able to put it together and come out with the win.”
La Feria began the game on an impressive 8-2 run and finished first set in dominant fashion, taking it 25-14. Things went from good to bad just as quickly for the Lionettes, who dropped the next two sets to fall behind 2-1.
“After the third set I reminded them that we were going to pass the ball, set it and swing,” Fraga said. “We emphasized that we needed to quit giving points away and force (Hidalgo) to earn them. In both sets that we lost, we would get behind and have them dig deep to get back in the match.”
During the fourth set, La Feria got it going early and did not have to worry about falling behind, as the Lionettes began the set on a 10-1 run.
For the Lionettes, Karina Diaz and Sierra Salinas had great outings. Diaz finished the game with two kills, 36 assists, and four digs, and Salinas registered 21 kills, one block and 10 digs.
Other players who also played well were Felicity Watson (15 digs, one assist), Natalie Gonzalez (10 kills, five kills), Mary Winton (five blocks), Reanne Fraga (four kills) and Aaliyan Stewart (three kills, one block and one dig).
Next, the Lionettes play host to Zapata at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.