BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
MISSION — The Sharyland High Rattlers hosted senior day festivities honoring their five players — right side hitters Maddy Bickerton and Clarissa Balandrano, defensive specialist Paola Chapa, libero Caleigh Hausenfluck, and outside hitter Elise Townsend — who were all playing the final regular season home match of their careers.
As soon as the match began, the celebration was over for Sharyland (22-13, 10-5). The Mission Veterans Patriots crashed the party with a dominant 25-7 win in game one. The Patriots relaxed a bit in games two and three, taking them by identical 25-17 scores on Saturday afternoon.
“Today wasn’t our best by any means,” Mission Veterans junior Makenzie Gerlach said. “There’s always room for improvement, but with the playoffs coming that much closer, we need to stay focused and be ready for anyone we face.”
“We tried out our whole lineup today, because all our players have to be ready to go for the playoffs,” Mission Veterans coach Diana Lerma said. “But I don’t know why we slacked off. Their (Sharyland High) big guns started hitting. For a playoff team, we should still be able to rise to the occasion and control the game a lot sooner. We allowed several more points than I know we normally allow.”
The wheels continued to roll for Mission Veterans (28-3, 15-0), which not only clinched the District 31-5A championship with a victory over Rio Grande City on Tuesday night but still maintained its goal of winning every game of every match in district competition. The Patriots’ final roadblock will be the Valley View Tigers next Tuesday. Valley View is 0-15 in district play.
“It’s really nerve-wracking, I guess, but we’re just so happy to be closer to the playoffs and closer to a chance at making it to state,” Gerlach said. “We’re a very good team. We have so much potential. As long as we stick together, we can go up against anybody.”
Lerma knew facing stiffer competition would have her team better prepared heading into the playoffs, so she scheduled McAllen Memorial as Veterans’ final regular season match at 2 p.m. next Saturday inside the Mission Veterans gym.
Mission Veterans hosted McAllen Memorial in the team’s season opener on Aug. 8. The Patriots took care of the Mustangs in four games.
“We wanted to play somebody that was a little taller and runs a quicker offense,” Lerma said. “They’re a good program, and so are we. A match like this will get us ready for the next round.”