By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers look to pick up where they left off last season.
Brownsville Veterans (7-3) finished the McAllen High Poundfest as the gold bracket’s consolation champions after a 7-2 finish in tournament play.
The Lady Chargers picked up wins against three of the Rio Grande Valley’s top 10 teams (Edinburg North, Sharyland High and Edinburg Vela) while earning the consolation trophy against a team that beat them in their season opener, PSJA Memorial.
They did it all while missing a middle blocker and one of their setters.
“I was surprised. I think it came down to defense, passing and we served well in those games we won,” coach Lisa Mares said. “There was a game where we had a lot of errors but we still came out with a win. The movement and the desire to win were there.”
Mares said junior Cassie Valdez had to play virtually every minute of the tournament as the team’s lone setter, and senior libero Paola Villarreal did an excellent job of “taking charge and being a leader in the back.”
Sophomore Pamela Sanchez was a surprise player for the Lady Chargers in the tournament. She filled in as a middle blocker in junior Bridget Himes’ absence.
“We had a couple of injuries to (our middle blocker and setter), so we basically had to run the whole tournament with one setter,” Mares said. “I thought we did pretty well. It’s always a goal to get in the top bracket. … I saw a lot of fight in them, (they were) aggressive and defensively (we did well),” Mares said.
Winning hardware
Rivera also continued its hot start with a silver bracket championship in the McHi Poundfest.
The Lady Raiders (7-3) lost only three of their nine matches, beating PSJA North, 25-23, 25-21, in the bracket final and playing a close match against Sharyland High in the semifinal, 25-21, 25-21.
“They did a great job the first and last day,” coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “They were a little flat on the second day, but they sure came back strong today. I am so proud of how they never lost confidence (on Saturday). They kept fighting even when they fell behind.”
Rivera has a tough week ahead with a road date against RGVSports.com’s preseason No. 1 McAllen High and a trip to the three-day Mission Tournament.
Fostering depth
Another BISD team found success in the silver bracket.
The Pace Lady Vikings (4-6) finished third in the bracket after beating Sharyland for their fourth win in nine tournament matches.
“We played up and down this week, a little inconsistent at times,” coach Gavin Rudder said. “(We) got the girls in some pretty important spots who are inexperienced but got some learning to do. That’s what this preseason is for before we get to district play. (We) will be a lot better once we get there.”
Depth will help elevate the game since the team returns five starters from last season’s playoff team. Rudder said senior libero Ebony Casanova and sophomore Stephanie Saenz had great performances in the tournament.
“Ebony did a great job of stepping in front of some of the big hitters and digging their spikes this weekend,” Rudder said. “Stephanie had some good swings but was a bigger part of the blocking game, getting lots of touches and blocks.”
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.