From Staff Reports
The Rivera Lady Raiders remain alive in the Class 6A volleyball playoffs after prevailing over PSJA Memorial 25-16, 25-27, 17-25, 25-22, 15-12 on Tuesday in bi-district at the PSJA Memorial gym.
“I’m excited because our girls really stepped it up tonight,” Lady Raiders coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “They didn’t stop fighting. It was back and forth the whole way. It came down to a couple of good hits here and there at just the right time.”
Rivera won a seeding match with San Benito last Friday to take the runner-up playoff spot in District 32-6A behind league champion Los Fresnos, which won its bi-district match 3-0 on Monday at PSJA North. Rivera and San Benito tied for second place in 32-6A with 10-4 records.
The Lady Raiders were led Tuesday by Stephanie Garza and Litzy Medina with 22 and 20 kills, respectively. Kourtney Shears and Lilian Vera added 30 and 27 assists, respectively. Teammate Maddie Blanco contributed 27 digs. Also, Shears finished with 26 digs.
The Lady Raiders, back in the playoffs after a two-year absence, next face Laredo Alexander or Mission High later this week in the area playoffs.
BROWNSVILLE VETERANS
MEMORIAL DEF. NIXON
The District 32-5A champion Lady Chargers are moving on in the Class 5A playoffs after a 25-21, 25-17, 25-14 bi-district victory against District 31-5A fourth-place seed Laredo Nixon. The match was played in Rio Grande City.
The Lady Chargers, who went 14-0 to capture the 32-5A title, will go against San Antonio Southside or Corpus Christi Veterans later this week in the 5A area playoffs. This season marked the first time for Brownsville Veterans to win district with an undefeated record in volleyball.
EDINBURG VELA
DEF. HANNA
District 31-6A champion Edinburg Vela prevailed at home against 32-6A fourth-place Hanna 3-1. Vela moves on to the area playoffs later this week and will go against McAllen High or San Antonio Southwest.
“I’m proud of my team,” Hanna coach Ansgar Hagemann said. “We won one set against a Vela team that didn’t lose a single set during district competition. This team came back to be a serious playoff contender when we had only one returning starter and only two back who came off the bench last season, so it’s a team that accomplished a lot.”
MISSION VETERANS
DEF. LOPEZ
The Lady Lobos’ season came to a close following a 3-0 loss to Mission Veterans at the Lady Patriots’ gym. Mission Veterans was the 31-5A champion, while Lopez was the No. 4 seed from 32-5A after defeating Pace last Saturday in a “play-in” match as both the Lady Lobos and Lady Vikings tied for the last playoff berth in the district. Mission Veterans now advances to the area playoffs later this week to take on either Calallen or San Antonio Harlandale.