Roy HESS | Staff Writer
Porter has a scrappy volleyball team that doesn’t give up.
Still, the Cowgirls were no match for Brownsville Veterans Memorial on Tuesday night in District 32-5A competition at the Porter gym.
The Lady Chargers breezed in the first two games and encountered quite a battle from the Cowgirls during the last set in prevailing 25-16, 25-11, 25-23.
“I told our girls before the match, ‘Porter is a good team,’” Lady Chargers coach Elizabeth Mares said. ‘“Porter is a scrappy team with some good hitters. We can’t take them lightly. I told the girls we need to focus on what we’re doing on our side of the net with our serve receiving and putting our first ball in play with consistency.
“We did well the first two sets considering one of my outside hitters was sick and one of my defensive players was hurt,” Mares added. “Our girls stepped it up.”
The victory gave Brownsville Veterans an 11-1 record, which keeps the Lady Chargers close behind 32-5A leader Edcouch-Elsa (12-0), a 25-4, 25-21, 25-9 winner against Valley View, also on Tuesday.
Brownsville Veterans plays host to E-E next Tuesday in what figures to be a district championship showdown on the final night of 32-5A competition. It was the same scenario last year.
Now with diminished playoff chances, Porter slipped to 4-8 in the standings.
“We didn’t play the way we wanted,” Porter coach Tiffany Capistran said. “When we finally turned on, it wasn’t until the end of the last set, and that was too late.
“Brownsville Vets played very well and kept it up the whole match,” the Porter coach added.
The Lady Chargers didn’t trail after ties at 1 and 2 during the opening set. They held leads of 11-6, 18-9, and 22-12 before taking the first set 25-16 on a crosscourt kill.
The second game was much the same as the first with advantages of 11-5, 19-6 and 23-8 for the Lady Chargers before a too-long serve by the Cowgirls allowed Brownsville Veterans to win the set 25-11.
The Cowgirls came alive after falling behind 8-2 during the third game. Porter tied it at 13 and again at 20 before going ahead 21-20 when the Lady Chargers hit the ball out. A hitting miscue by Brownsville Veterans put Porter ahead 22-20, but the visitors rallied even after trailing 23-21 on a ball that was hit into the net.
After the tie at 23, Porter hit the ball into the net and had another hit carry out on the final two points of the match.
Stat leaders for the Lady Chargers Tuesday included Dominique Mena (12 kills, 18 digs, three aces), Monica Garcia (11 kills), Daniela Espinoza (16 assists, eight digs), Rebekah Rodriguez (19 assists, 10 digs) and Aaliyah Calzada (27 digs, three aces).