ROY HESS | Brownsville Herald
The time for district play in Metro-area volleyball is quickly drawing near.
High school teams have had roughly a month to prepare for district since the season began Aug. 7.
The non-district preliminaries are almost over and conference action begins Sept. 9 in Districts 32-6A and 32-5A. District 32-4A, which includes Port Isabel, starts next Tuesday.
Now, more than ever, teams are focusing on being ready for conference play. And some conferences, such as nine-team District 31-5A which includes South Texas powerhouse Mission Veterans, already have started.
The impending start of district was on the minds of the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles and Lopez Lady Lobos on Tuesday when they played each other in a non-conference match.
Hanna prevailed 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-14 to keep its momentum going.
“We’re bonding a lot more, we’re connecting with each other and we all have our minds set on what we want to see happen in District (32-6A),” said Hanna’s Melina Morales, a senior libero/defensive specialist. “We still have to practice on some things, but I think we’ll be ready for conference play. It’s going to be a tough district, and I think we can pull it off (and return to the playoffs). It’ll be good.”
Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said he believes the 32-6A race should be “wide open” this season with his Lady Eagles, Los Fresnos, Rivera, San Benito and Harlingen High all looking pretty solid thus far.
The Lady Eagles continue non-district play with a match at home against Brownsville Veterans Memorial at 6 p.m. Friday before participating in the eight-team Labor Day Weekend Tournament on Saturday at McAllen Memorial.
499 AND COUNTING
Rivera’s Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra reached 499 wins in her storied coaching career thanks to Tuesday’s 25-15, 25-10, 25-19 non-district victory at Edinburg North. She goes after victory No. 500 at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Rivera as the Lady Raider play host to non-district opponent Edinburg High.
During her 25-year head coaching career at Rivera, “Coach Ave” has taken the Lady Raiders to the state playoffs 17 times, including eight times as a district champion. Her teams have advanced to the regional tournament five times, the last of which was 2013.
Along with Hanna and Los Fresnos from the Metro area, the Lady Raiders also are scheduled to play in Saturday’s Labor Day Weekend Tournament at McAllen Memorial.
ON THE RUN
Apparently at least one Lopez volleyball player has wondered aloud during practice about exactly which sport she had signed up to participate in.
Lady Lobos coach Jacquelynn Touchet said she likes to keep her team in prime physical condition with plenty of running drills, and one of the girls recently was heard saying, “Is this volleyball or track?”
Touchet responded by saying, “We run them a lot. Speed is important.”
The Lady Lobos play their final non-district match at 1 p.m. Saturday at La Feria. The Lady Lobos are going after back-to-back trips to the playoffs out of 32-5A.
CLOSE ONE
St. Joseph Academy’s 11-team tournament was canceled last weekend and the Lady Bloodhounds bounced back from that disappointment by winning at home Tuesday in quite a close match against Santa Maria. The scores were 29-27, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20.
“We are still working on trying to be consistent, especially with our serving,” said SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino, whose team is playing its first season of varsity competition. “We’re kind of on a roller coaster right now. We’re up and down. If we can ever hit that groove where we’re steady and more consistent, I see great things in store for this team. I’m seeing glimpses of greatness when we’re on our game.”
The Lady Bloodhounds next play host to Grulla in non-district action at noon Saturday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess