HARLINGEN — with both teams needing a win to keep pace in the District 32-6A race, the crosstown rivalry between Harlingen High and Harlingen South became that much more important.
The match itself, however, turned out to be a one-sided affair as the Lady Cardinals dominated the Lady Hawks in a three-game sweep, 25-13, 25-10, 25-15 on Saturday afternoon at Harlingen High School.
The win gives the Lady Cardinals, who are 3-4 in district play, some hope as the first half of district play wraped up. But the rivalry win put the team and head coach Jennifer Martinez in high spirits moving forward.
“It’s our rival. We have not been ourselves the last couple of weeks, but we’ve been working hard. The girls just wanted it,” Martinez said. “We knew that if we could get this one, that it would help us the rest of the way through district and maybe squeeze into the last playoff spot. “
The Lady Cards’ passing put the Lady Hawks’ defense on edge for the entire match, making it difficult for South to gain any momentum.
While Harlingen’s passing were on point, helping set up the hitters and setters, the South attack struggled, leading to fast starts by Harlingen in all three games.
The Cardinals led by at least 10 points in every game and did not allow many runs for South on the day.
“We struggled with our passing today, but give a lot of credit to Harlingen high. They really did a good job of moving us around on their serve. It made us struggle with our passing and we never could get into a rhythm because of it,” South head coach Brian Molina said.
“Every time we tried to grab momentum, Harlingen high had an answer. Harlingen is very well-coached. Their girls played with a sense of urgency and they were able to get the job done.”
Harlingen busted through the gates to start the first two games.
The third game was much of the same, only South rallied from a 0-4 start and take an 8-7 lead.
After Martinez took a timeout to cool down, the Lady Cards finished on an 18-7 run to take the match in straight sets.
“We had some mental battles. It looked like our girls got a little tired and comfortable, so I decided to shake them up a little bit and make them realize that we finish this game or there will be more. We probably wouldn’t have the energy to continue,” Martinez said. “They agreed and sucked it up to finish it in three.”
Leading the Cardinals was Anabel Ricardo, who posted four blocks, three aces and five kills, while Sami Quilantan followed with four kills, five digs and an ace.
Arianna Corona and Zelda Ortiz combined for 18 assists.
For South, Ely Aguilar had 12 digs, Adrianna Espinoza recorded six kills, and Lexi Kruse and Emily Susen posted a combined 15 assists.