By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
LOS FRESNOS — Los Fresnos continued its success in volleyball this season with another postseason berth, but to Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods an even greater accomplishment was again achieved.
Lady Falcons volleyball players Giselle Ibarra and Itzy Zapata will continue to compete at the collegiate level after making their intentions official during a signing ceremony Friday.
Ibarra is headed to Southwest Baptist University, an NCAA Division II school in Bolivar, Missouri and will join her sister, Sam Ibarra, a sophomore and a member of the Bearcats volleyball squad after a successful career at Los Fresnos.
The elder Ibarra earned All-Metro defensive honors as a senior, but the younger Ibarra earned plenty of accolades based on her offensive prowess, including both an All-Metro co-MVP and a District 32-6A co-MVP with Rivera’s Stephanie Garza.
Giselle Ibarra led Los Fresnos with 467 kills this season and was second on the team with 394 digs for a squad that went 27-11, including 11-3 in District 32-6A and advanced to the second round of the postseason.
“I’m so excited,” she said. “It was really hard for me (when she left for school), but I’m excited to join her.”
It was an easy choice to play with her sister again on the same volleyball team. But her high school coach will miss her.
“That’s a huge loss for us,” Woods said. “She was my top hitter, she led the lower Valley in kills.”
Giselle Ibarra plans to study education to become a teacher and would eventually like to come back to Los Fresnos to coach.
“Coach Woods is a legend … she’s amazing and I love her,” Giselle Ibarra said. “She has helped me through a lot.”
Zapata is off to Coastal Bend College, an NJCAA school in Beeville. Her senior season was interrupted by a knee injury, but she worked hard to get back onto the court and back into the starting lineup to help her team.
“It was very tough, but I had a lot of support,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to play in college, so to finally get this experience is the best thing.”
Zapata, who will study physical education with the intent to coach, was afraid her injury would prevent her from fulfilling her dream, but Coastal Bend didn’t waver with its offer.
“They supported me through my knee surgery and everything … to get this scholarship, it’s amazing,” she said.
Woods was also impressed with Zapata’s work ethic.
“She struggled … but she did rehab double time, she worked hard and got back in the lineup,” Woods said of the outside hitter. “She’s a great blocker, she’s very enthusiastic, very motivating … always got the other kids up. She had a voice for us.”
Woods influence extends to her players as both wanted to pursue the coaching profession some day. While wins are great and losses hurt, the long-time Los Fresnos coach was happy to see more of her players going to college.
“It’s good to get all that (success), but I love to see my players sign and play college ball,” Woods said. “It’s not all about the wins and losses, but mainly to see these kids grow and become super people. I like to see them grow up and become young women and playing beyond their high school years.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.