By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Rivera Lady Raiders are a volleyball team with standout players throughout the lineup.
In fact, Rivera appears to be solid at every position with tall, active middle blockers, hitters on the sides who can leap high to power well-placed kills into the opposing court and defensive players who don’t think twice about diving all over to make hard-to-reach digs that keep the ball in play.
And oh yes, the Lady Raiders’ serving is pretty good, too.
Rivera (28-10) opens the Class 6A bi-district playoffs at home against Edinburg North (12-24) at 7 p.m. Monday.
Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said she is blessed to have a well-rounded, experienced team with seniors who are leaders.
“We have great hitters and we have an awesome defense,” said Avelar-Guerra, who recently surpassed 500 career coaching wins and is now in her 25th season at Rivera. “Our hitters have been good since the beginning of the season and our defense has worked very hard to improve and become a lot stronger.
“Everyone has really stepped it up,” she added. “It’s the whole package — hitters, defenders and our setters — everyone is doing great. I’m lucky to have such a good group that is so dedicated and has gotten us to where we are now (as 14-0 District 32-6A champions).
“We have a group of seniors who are all hitters. They play with confidence and a lot of passion.”
The Lady Raiders’ seniors include middle blockers Victoria Zuniga and Mayra Martinez, and outside hitters Litzy Medina, Stephanie Garza and Valery Uresti.
Among the standout juniors in the Rivera lineup are setter Kourtney Shears and libero Madelaine Blanco.
It’s been a combined effort as the team captured its first district title since 2007, said Medina, a team captain.
“It’s a privilege to play with these girls every single day, and over the past four years, it’s been the best,” Medina said. “I just think no other school has a connection like we do. I love each one of these girls, and I’m thankful for getting the opportunity to come to this school and play volleyball.”
Added Garza, also a team captain, “We’ve been together for a good three years, and every year our bond for each other continues to get stronger. The unity is there. We come here (to practice) every day wanting to better ourselves so that we can play better every match.”
Martinez and Zuniga provide the Lady Raiders with height and effective blocking at the net along with numerous kills.
“Our bond is pretty strong and it’s given us trust in each other,” Martinez said. “We play for each other.
“It’s an honor to play for ‘Coach Ave’ and be on this team,” Martinez added. “‘Coach Ave’ has made me a way better player than when I started here.”
Added Zuniga, “We’ve come a long way since we started at the bottom (as freshmen) to going undefeated and winning the district title (as seniors).”
Now it’s on to the state playoffs. The Rivera-Edinburg North winner goes against Laredo Alexander or McAllen High later in the week in the area round of the postseason.
“We hope we go farther in the playoffs than we did last year (when we went two rounds),” Uresti said. “I just love my team and I’m so happy to be playing on it.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess