By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Several months have passed since the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons last played the Laredo Alexander Lady Bulldogs at the Poundfest volleyball tournament in McAllen.
To be exact, it was Aug. 14 when the Lady Falcons bounced back after losing the first game to defeat the Lady Bulldogs 10-25, 25-22, 15-8 at the tournament.
Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods believes her team has improved since then, and at the same time she’s pretty certain Alexander has gotten better, too.
The District 32-6A champion Lady Falcons (38-8) meet the District 29-6A runner-up Lady Bulldogs (30-11) for the second time this season at 3 p.m. Saturday at La Joya Palmview for a Class 6A area-round playoff match. The winner advances to next week’s regional quarterfinal round to play either McAllen Memorial or Edinburg North.
“We just have to play our game, which means starting fast and keeping our focus,” Woods said. “We’ve got to play good defense and play smart. If we do that, I think we’ll win. I know our offense will be there. We’re excited about what’s ahead.”
Added Jackie Kingsbury, the Lady Falcons’ junior outside hitter, “Laredo Alexander definitely is a great team. We saw them at Poundfest. At that point, we had just started our season, and we know that both teams have matured with their playing styles, so we’re definitely expecting a good match against them. I remember they beat us terribly bad (25-10) in the first game (at Poundfest), but we came back to win.”
The Lady Falcons, ranked No. 2 in the Rio Grande Valley, got off to a strong start in the playoffs Tuesday at home with a decisive 25-12, 25-12, 25-7 bi-district victory against PSJA North.
Alexander made the most of its bi-district match Monday at Roma by defeating McAllen High 25-21, 25-19, 25-16. McHi, ranked No. 5 in the Valley, is a team that last season advanced to the Region IV-6A Tournament in San Antonio along with Los Fresnos and was expected to have a strong chance to do so again.
With 32-6A runner-up and sixth-ranked Brownsville Veterans Memorial losing its area-round match to 29-6A champion Laredo United 25-18, 25-20, 26-28, 25-18 Thursday in Corpus Christi, the Lady Falcons remain the only team from 32-6A still alive in the playoffs.
The Lady Falcons kept their focus and didn’t let up against PSJA North during their bi-district match Tuesday. Kingsbury said she and her teammates want to continue playing at a high level and avoid having any sort of team meeting with Woods to discuss a lack of intensity. That’s happened already this season, and the Lady Falcons don’t want to experience it again.
““We want to keep our coach as happy as possible,” Kingsbury said.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.