KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — The Battle of the Arroyo never disappoints.
The Lady ’Hounds and Lady Cardinals wrote another chapter in that rivalry. Trailing 2-1, Harlingen High rallied behind Taegan Dickey and Elaine Coronado to win 25-18, 23-25, 13-25, 25-20, 15-13 in an instant classic Tuesday night in San Benito.
“Now is the Time” has been the Lady Cards’ motto all year. With a senior-heavy club, Harlingen High took a step forward with a critical win to begin District 32-6A play.
During the fifth set, Harlingen High raced out to 12-7 lead and looked to be in control. It kept its offensive attack going and pushed to earn a 13-9 lead late until San Benito found a late rhythm and trailed 13-12. That was as close as the Lady ’Hounds got.
“We knew what we could do, we saw that in the first set,” Harlingen High coach Joslynn Torres said. “We had a long two weeks off because of different things. So we knew what we had to work on within those two weeks. Going into the fourth set, we told the girls, we have put in the work, and our coaches did their homework and we prepared our kids for what they were going to see tonight.”
The Lady Cards silenced the San Benito crowd with a 25-18 win in the first set. Although they trailed 12-2 early, the Lady ’Hounds found momentum and kept Harlingen High on its toes with a late rally.
Battling their rivals amid a playoff atmosphere, the Lady Cards lost the next two sets as San Benito found its form. After the second and third set, with the momentum back in San Benito’s favor, Dickey was never rattled.
“We have played in big games before, we knew coming into San Benito it was going to be tough,” Dickey said. “This is where our two weeks off came into play. This is district play, and this is where it counts. The last two sets I told the girls we needed to fight with everything we had, there is no more playing around, and tonight we came together.”
Dickey led the offense with 19 kills, Coronado finished with seven kills, and Desiree Sanchez notched nine kills and five blocks.
“We have worked and worked and worked,” Coronado said. “This is us huge for us. We didn’t get off to a great start, but we continued to work. Tonight it took a lot of mental toughness, we fell behind, but we shook it off and kept playing, and picked each other up.”
With District 32-6A becoming a six-team district, there is less room for error in what is arguably the toughest volleyball district in the Rio Grande Valley.
“To be able to steal a win on the road and set the tone for district play is huge for us,” Torres said. “We have had a tough non-district schedule, and for us to come out with a win in San Benito is everything for us.”