HARLINGEN — The Harlingen South Lady Hawks showed plenty of spirit, heart and gutsy determination against the Brownsville Veterans Lady Chargers on Tuesday.
Trailing 0-2, the Lady Hawks battled and clawed their way back to tie the match at 2-2.
Unfortunately, they just couldn’t close things out and the Lady Chargers survived 25-12, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 15-9.
With the win, the Lady Chargers improved to 7-1 in District 32-6A to keep pace with league-leading Los Fresnos.
The Lady Hawks, meanwhile, fell to 1-7 and dropped their sixth straight. The last time they won a match was on Sept. 15 against Brownsville Lopez. Coincidentally, the Lady Hawks take on Lopez on Saturday.
“I’m really proud of the way they didn’t roll over,” said Lady Hawks head coach Jennifer Taliancich of her team. “They are slowly gaining confidence and they haven’t lost hope, and they shouldn’t. We showed that today and that’s good. The last time we faced them (the Lady Chargers) they beat us 3-0, so I’m happy that we seem to be turning a corner.”
In Game 1, the Lady Hawks didn’t look as if they were going to give Vets much of a match as the Lady Chargers cruised to an easy 13-point win.
But the early loss seemed to actually enliven the Lady Hawks and in Game 2 they battled tooth and nail but came up just short 25-22.
With their backs to the wall, the Lady Hawks showed their mettle and dug down deep to win a tight Game 3 then won Game 4 by five points at 25-20.
“We tried to keep the girls positive after they fell into that 0-2 hole by just reminding them about what they do in practice and what they know how to do,” said Taliancich.
In Game 5, the Lady Chargers finally found the spirit they displayed in the first game and rushed out to an early 7-3 lead.
But to their credit once again, the Lady Hawks fought back. However, this time it just wasn’t enough as the Lady Chargers won the game 15-9 to put away the match.
Lady Chargers head coach Lisa Mares was not too happy with her squad afterward.
“I’m very disappointed because I just felt like they (the Lady Hawks) were more ready than us to play,” Mares said. “The first game we did well then we relaxed too much and sort of took things for granted. We can’t do that.
“We are still a little immature and we don’t really have a vocal team leader on the court, and it showed today.”
The Lady Chargers were led by Bridget Himes, who had 12 kills and four blocks, and Sarah Sandoval, who finished with 17 kills and 20 digs.
South was led by Christina Lopez, who had nine kills and five blocks, Adriana Espinosa, who had eight kills, and Lexi Kruse, who finished with six kills and four assists.