By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial solidified its hold on second place in District 32-6A volleyball by defeating third-place Hanna on Tuesday at the Lady Golden Eagles’ gym.
The Lady Chargers triumphed 25-18, 25-14, 25-18 in a relatively drama-free match as they managed to go ahead by a fairly comfortable margin at least midway through each game and pretty much cruise to the win.
It was the second time the two teams met in 32-6A play this season. During the first round of district Sept. 19, Brownsville Veterans prevailed 28-26, 25-22, 25-22 on its home court over Hanna.
The Lady Chargers (9-1) remain within striking distance of 32-6A leader Los Fresnos (10-0). Each team has clinched a playoff spot. Hanna (7-3) stays in sole possession of third place, and San Benito (5-5) is alone in fourth.
Brownsville Veterans and Los Fresnos shared district titles the past two seasons. They play each other one more time in district on Oct. 24 at Los Fresnos.
Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares was pleased to see her girls get off to a fast start during each of the first two games by taking leads of 6-1 and 5-1, respectively.
“Our girls were ready to play, and I felt we served well,” Mares said. “We had 16 aces. We have a great group of athletic girls who can serve well.
“Hanna was having problems with its passing, and if you can’t pass that makes it hard,” Mares added. “(Hanna hitter) Pamela (Ellis) wasn’t used a lot because of their problems passing. That helped us.”
During the third game, Hanna led 3-0 and 4-2, but Brownsville Veterans quickly rallied and tied it at 4 and then at 5 before going ahead for good 6-5. The Lady Chargers surged to a 20-10 advantage in the third game before taking the set and the match with a 25-18 victory on a kill by Bridget Himes.
“Right now, everyone is hunting for those (four) playoffs spots (from our district), and we want to be in a good position (going into the postseason),” Mares said. “I just told our girls we have to push hard against every team, regardless of the record, and they did tonight. Hanna has a good team. There’s a little (volleyball) rivalry between us, so I knew it was going to be a good match.”
Megan Sanchez was a standout for the Lady Chargers with 12 kills and four aces. Teammates Sarah Sandoval and Ashley Tumlinson added seven and six kills, respectively, and Sandoval also had 14 digs and two aces.
Setter Cassandra Valdez finished with 34 assists and five aces for the Lady Chargers. Krista Lopez, a libero, contributed 17 digs and two aces.
Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said his team wasn’t able to get on track and respond to the Lady Chargers’ fast starts.
“It wasn’t good for us tonight,” he said. “We dug ourselves a hole (during each game), and we couldn’t get going. Veterans had some very aggressive serves, and their game plan worked out fine. We had a hard time getting our hitters involved, and that was basically the reason we lost.
“We’re going to regroup, and we look forward to our (four) remaining district matches,” Hagemann added. “I believe we’re more or less locked into third place now. We’re going to work hard these next two weeks (to finish strong in district).”
District action continues at noon Saturday as Hanna is at Lopez and Brownsville Veterans will be at home against San Benito.