KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
DONNA—In a rematch from last year’s tournament championship, senior hitter Alysa Naranjo saw their rematch against Edcouch-Elsa as a shot at redemption.
Last year was a mirror image of this year’s tournament. San Benito reached the semis, met Donna then squared off against Edcouch-Elsa in the finals. The Lady Jackets prevailed against the Lady Hounds in 2017, but Naranjo wasn’t going to let that happen again.
“We saw this game, and how things lined up, and we wanted it,” Naranjo said.
Naranjo led the offensive assault with a 19 kill, 18 dig performance against the Lady Jackets en route to a win in straight sets, 25-22, 25-19 and brought home the Donna ISD Tournament championship.
Naranjo finished with a total of 88 kills through six games. With her strong tournament, Naranjo was named Tournament Most Valuable Player and teammate Ariel Garcia was tabbed to the All-Tournament team.
“It’s an honor to win this award,” said Naranjo. “I have seen other girls win this award before, ever since I was a freshman, I wanted to win it. Last year Kayleen Reyes won it so I wanted to win it again for the team and San Benito.”
The Lady Hounds steam rolled through pool play with a 3-0 record and picked up where they left off on Saturday with wins against Mission, Donna High and Edcouch-Elsa.
Entering the new season, head coach Ruby Medina needed to find a reliable offensive weapon, and now Medina has found the solution in Naranjo.
“I’m very blessed to have a player like Alysa on my team,” Medina said. “She has a lot of experience and is one of our leaders and go-to girls. A lot of the girls look up to her, she is a great role model and leader, she has done a great job on the court, she reads the court well a lot better than she did last year, so she has improved and we’re just happy to have her.”
The Lady Hounds made quick work of the Lady Jackets, Sarah Garcia checked in 27 digs and five aces. Haley Rodriguez finished with 25 digs, while Ariel Garcia finished with a team high 26 assists.
San Benito now improves to 8-0 on the year and will now continue their non-district schedule with a playoff rematch against Edinburg Vela on Tuesday at home with the first match scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
“I was impressed over all with the way the girls played,” Medina said. “They adjusted and made plays and any substitution I made, they adapted to it and got it done.”
South checks in solid tournament
The fans were almost treated to an all District 32-6A championship on Saturday, but Edcouch-Elsa had other ideas.
After sweeping Laredo Martin, the Lady Hawks reached the semifinals, but fell shy against the Lady Jackets 26-24, 25-14.
“We played strong, I liked our fight and our leadership,” said Lady Hawks coach Anissa Lucio. “I’m pleased with how we played, but we will push to get better everyday.”
Overall, South went 4-1 over the last two days and have plenty of optimism for the season. South will now shift their focus a Tuesday night match against Sharyland at home. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.