Both squads played hard and had their moments, but ultimately couldn’t string enough wins together to qualify for the postseason.
So when the two intracity rivals faced off on Tuesday at the Lady Cardinals gym in the regular-season finale, only pride and the chance to end things on a high note were at stake.
Regardless, the Lady Hawks came out focused and played one of their best matches of the year en route to a hard-fought 26-24, 25-19, 28-26 sweep of the Lady Cards.
The Lady Hawks were led by sophomore Lexi Kruse, who had seven kills, nine assists and two blocks, as well as Adrianna Espinoza, who finished with eight kill shots.
With South’s win, the teams split the season series as Harlingen beat South 3-1 on Oct. 3.
“This was pretty big and I wanted to win with all my heart,” said Lady Hawks senior captain Tina Montez, who is one of five seniors the Lady Hawks will lose over the offseason. She finished the game with six key kills.
“We just put it all together, we clicked today and I’m glad that the last game of my senior year was a win.”
Lady Hawks head coach Jennifer Taliancich was pleased with how her team found a way to effectively close the match.
“In some of our matches this season, we just weren’t able to finish strong,” she said. “We always played hard, but we sometimes did have trouble closing things out. We finally did that tonight.”
The Lady Hawks showed their ability to finish off the competition in Game 3 of the match.
Already up 2-0, momentum was on the Lady Hawks’ side as they opened the third set with a 7-4 lead.
The Lady Cards fought back, however, and eventually tied things up at 10-10.
Both teams battled tooth and nail down the stretch until the Lady Hawks finally got to match point up 24-20.
But the Lady Cards refused to go quietly as they held off match point and eventually tied things up at 24-24 and again at 26-26.
With the spirited crowd going wild, the Lady Hawks dug deep, found the will to score two last points and finally won the game 28-26 to close down the match.
“I’m very proud of the team and I know that we seniors are leaving the team in good hands,” Montez said. “They have Lexi Kruse – Kruse control – coming back and I know they will be just fine.”