MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — On the ride back from winning the Laredo Tournament, Mission Veterans Memorial coach Diana Lerma noticed her players were tired. She adjusted practice, somewhat begrudgingly, to ease the load for her squad, which had competed in seven matches this past weekend.
In their first competition since the tournament, the Lady Patriots were out of sync and struggled against a taller, hard-hitting Los Fresnos team, enduring a 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 26-24 loss Tuesday, marking Mission Vets’ first regular season-defeat to a Valley team since 2012.
“I told our players, ‘You got to be asking for more (practice) instead of less,’” Lerma said. “But we learned the hard way.”
Mission Veterans (17-5) was out-manned by front line that featured three players taller than 5-foot-10, led by 6-foot middle blocker Sam Ibarra, who posted 14 kills and nine total blocks to help Los Fresnos improve to 18-9. Teammate Joseline Caraveo added 15 kills and eight blocks, and Jackie Kingsbury added 10 kills and two blocks.
“Their blocking was there,” Lerma said. “They were able to be consistent on getting the ball over, where we were just blowing it out.”
Mission Vets’ made a spirited effort at a rally in Game 4, trailing by as much as 19-12 before ripping off a 4-0 run to force a Los Fresnos timeout. Then, Mission Vets’ Gabby Lerma fed Daisy Reyna to cut it to 23-20, capping an 8-2 run.
Moments later, D.D. Ibarra fed Lerma on three consecutive possessions, starting with a back-row kill and ending with a one-handed tip to knot it at 24.
Los Fresnos sealed it, however, with a Caraveo kill followed by an Alexandra Cano ace as players spilled onto the court to celebrate what was arguably their biggest win of the season.
“It was a big win because they’re a great team and I know they’re going to be at the top of their district, I’m sure,” Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. “They play with a lot of poise, a lot of heart. They hit the ball hard at us. We were just in a good position to block.”
Added Sam Ibarra: “I think just the energy of everyone helped. Everyone was super motivated and super excited. Everyone wanted to do real good and win.”
Diana Lerma said afterward her team’s “inner-squad conflict” ultimately proved too costly, with breakdowns in communications and her players missing assignments.
“If you look at those last 10 points, that was unified,” she said. “I tell them, ‘When a team is willing to fight together, you’re going to do a heck of a lot better.’
“We would try to go ahead but we just couldn’t get that edge. But this is a learning experience for us. And thank God that we put our schedule to play against the top teams before we actually get started on our district.”
“We just hate losing to Valley teams,” she added, laughing.
Gabby Lerma finished with 15 kills, nine assists and 19 digs. Reyna added a game-high 19 kills. And D.D. Ibarra filled the stat sheet with nine kills, 29 assists, five aces and 10 digs.