By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Two matches into the District 32-6A volleyball race, Saturday’s confrontation between unbeatens Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Hanna could be described as the first real showdown of leaders in district play.
The 32-6A race appears to have a good deal of parity, at least among and right behind front-runners Los Fresnos, Hanna and Brownsville Veterans, all 2-0. Which teams secure the four available playoff spots in the district race by the end of next month, as they say, probably will go down to the final night of competition.
The Lady Chargers play host to the Lady Golden Eagles at noon Saturday.
“If we bring our team chemistry onto the court, we should have a good match,” said Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann, whose squad is coming off Tuesday’s 25-17, 25-15, 25-12 victory at home against Harlingen High. “We need to keep up the beat (with our team chemistry).
“It should be an entertaining match to watch, but not so much for us coaches,” he added.
Hagemann said his team suffered injuries to two of its setters during last Saturday’s five-game victory at San Benito and wasn’t sure if they would be able to play against the Lady Chargers.
“We hope to compensate (if they’re not able to play),” he said.
Brownsville Veterans has captured its first two district matches in three games handily against Harlingen South and Rivera, although Lady Chargers coach Lisa Mares noted her team didn’t play its best Tuesday when it won at Rivera.
“We can’t go out and be playing Hanna like that (and expect to win),” said Mares, whose girls defeated Rivera 25-20, 25-16, 25-20. “We weren’t consistent at all (with our hitting) against Rivera. I told the girls we need to keep the momentum when we play (and not hurt ourselves by making mistakes). We have to stay excited.”
The returning starters from last year’s 32-6A co-championship team for the Lady Chargers are Sarah Sandoval, Krista Lopez and Megan Sanchez. Besides those three, there are a number of newcomers to the varsity.
“With this (new) team, I really have to emphasize consistency in practice,” Mares said. “We do a lot of drills to keep things consistent. I knew I would have some new girls this season and that consistency would be one of the things we needed to work on, that and defense.”
After Brownsville Veterans, Los Fresnos and Hanna, all at 2-0, it’s Rivera and South at 1-1, and Lopez, San Benito and Harlingen High are 0-2.
Hagemann said he believed all along it would be Hanna, Brownsville Veterans and Los Fresnos out in front early in the district race.
“It’s going the way I predicted it in the beginning (before district),” he said. “There are still a lot of other strong teams out there, too, such as Harlingen High, to watch out for.”
32-5A UPDATE: Porter and Pace each started District 32-5A action with wins last Saturday and then suffered losses to undefeated district opponents Tuesday. Porter lost at home to Edcouch-Elsa 25-22, 25-18, 25-19, and Pace was beaten at Donna High 25-21, 25-12, 25-19.
On Saturday, Porter is at PSJA Southwest at 2 p.m., and Pace is at home against PSJA High at 3 p.m.
E-E and Donna High are 2-0, and Pace, Porter, Mercedes and PSJA High are 1-1. PSJA Southwest and Donna North are 0-2.
32-4A UPDATE: Port Isabel lost its District 32-4A opener in four games last Saturday at Zapata but bounced back to even its record at 1 with a 25-16, 25-17, 20-25, 25-15 victory against Rio Hondo on Tuesday.
The Lady Tarpons, who were tri-champions in 32-4A with Zapata and La Feria last season, next play host to Raymondville at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.