By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
It was a preseason goal for Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods to advance her team to the regional semifinal round.
She achieved that goal when the Lady Falcons earned a win in their regional quarterfinal, a barrier that has been tough to hurdle, with a 25-23, 16-25, 31-29, 16-25, 15-12 victory over the McAllen Rowe Lady Warriors on Tuesday night at Harlingen South.
A thrilling rematch of last year’s regional quarterfinal came down to the final game, and it appeared as though the Lady Warriors were on their way to ending the Lady Falcons’ season once again.
McAllen Rowe jumped out to a 6-0 lead during the fifth game, but the Lady Falcons stormed back by winning nine of the next 10 points to take command. The teams exchanged points until the end, when Joseline Caraveo floated the ball over then net for the winning kill.
Woods used a timeout when the deficit seemed insurmountable to give her team one final rally speech.
“I told them: ‘You’ve got to leave everything on the court. Seniors, this is it for you. You either play or we go home, and we’re done. This is your career,’” she said.
After the match, Woods was beside herself.
“(It feels) great,” she said. “(The team has) worked so hard all year. We shot ourselves in the foot so many times tonight. We always seem to get behind in the beginning of the game, I don’t know why, but we always find a way to fight back.”
Game 5 was like a snapshot of the rest of the match, which was back and forth all night. First, Los Fresnos took a 1-0 lead in games. The Lady Falcons won four, seven and five consecutive points during Game 1, outlasting McAllen Rowe and ultimately gaining the advantage in games on a Jackie Kingsbury kill.
Neither team strung together more than two points during the second game before the Lady Warriors’ Deanna Spear stepped behind the line and served a pair of aces to go with a series of attack errors by the Lady Falcons. With the score 21-15 in favor of McAllen Rowe, two timeouts by Los Fresnos weren’t enough to turn the tide.
The Lady Warriors appeared to have gained momentum after they held a 21-17 lead during the third game. But McAllen Rowe surrendered six of the next seven points to again fall into a hole late. The game took extra points to decide, and it wasn’t until consecutive kills by Peyton Sales, Alex Cano and Sam Ibarra that the Lady Falcons took a 2-1 advantage in games.
Game 4 was identical to Game 2. Los Fresnos fell behind early following several attack errors, and McAllen Rowe won handily, forcing a fifth game.
“We’ve got to prepare for San Antonio,” Woods said. “We’re looking at some really good competition up there, but that’s what they need to play.”
Los Fresnos will play San Antonio Churchill at 6 p.m. Friday at the Alamo Convocation Center in San Antonio.
Mayda Garcia led all players with 24 kills. Caraveo led the Lady Falcons with 16 kills, and Ibarra chipped in 12. Sales led in assists with 22, and teammate Alex Moya added 18 digs.
McAllen Rowe coach Magda Canales declined to comment after the match.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.