MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — After forcing a fourth game, it looked like the momentum had swung in favor of the Brownsville Rivera Lady Raiders for good.
However, it was the Harlingen South Lady Hawks who took advantage of Brownsville Rivera’s youth and held on to win in four games, 25-13, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-20 Tuesday night at Harlingen High School South.
“I’m proud of the girls, they did a good job tonight of overcoming adversity,” South head volleyball coach Brian Molina said. “Credit to Brownsville Rivera, they’re very well coached. Our girls just found a way to get it done tonight.” The win improves the Lady Hawks to 2-2 in district play.
For Molina and his squad, it was a much-needed win.
“It’s a big win because in this district, every match is going to be critical. Hopefully this will be a learning experience and we’ll continue to move forward,” Molina said.
South stormed out of the gates and took the first two games, but could not complete the sweep as the Lady Raiders finished the third game on an 18-7 run to steal it.
That put Rivera in the driver’s seat for a bit, but as South started to struggle, the Lady Raiders’ youth ultimately cost them as they failed to keep their foot on the gas while leading the fourth game early on.
Injuries have also taken a toll on Rivera’s lineup since the start of the year, but despite being near full strength Tuesday, the momentum fizzled out.
“We have a young team. They get tight when the game is close and they tend to make mental errors in a tight game; they have to learn to just play without worrying about the score,” said Rivera coach Liz Guerra said.
“This was the first time we had our whole team due to injuries or leaving town. In the end, they were playing not to lose.”
In the second game Rivera took a 17-16 lead after South dominated the first game to start the night, but the Lady Hawks finished on a 9-2 run to take a 2-0 lead.
It just wouldn’t be the Lady Raiders’ night as the Lady Hawks got back on track in the second half of the fourth game after a pair of Molina timeouts in the final two games.
“I told them to play it one point at a time and hopefully that’ll get us over the hump,” Molina said. “In the end, it did.”
A big part of the Hawks’ early momentum was due to the play of Lexi Kruse who finished with nine kills, 12 assists, 11 digs and three blocks for South.
Meanwhile, Emily Susen was right behind her with eight kills and 11 assists and 19 digs.
For Rivera, Kassie Garcia and Stephanie Ramirez combined for 23 kills and Michele Morales and Lilly Vera combined for 30 assists.
Ramirez also recorded five blocks and Garcia posted four.