BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
MISSION — Mission Veterans vs. Sharyland Pioneer volleyball matches typically have all the makings for instant classics.
Packed gyms, talented teams and tough, nail-biting matches.
Let’s call Tuesday night’s game an anomaly.
Pioneer scored the first four points of Game 1 but never threatened Veterans again as the Patriots dominated the Diamondbacks 25-15, 25-10 and 25-15 with a balanced offense and precision defense that hardly allowed a ball to hit the floor of the Pioneer gym.
Spearheaded by the junior trio of Jackie Howell, Makenzie Gerlach and Valerie De La Fuente, Mission Veterans shook off the slow start and fed its offense with defense. The Patriots were able to dig Pioneer hits, move the ball to De La Fuente and let her to set up any number of outside and middle hitters for kills.
The scene played out over and over and allowed Mission Veterans to put together several long runs, especially in sets one and two. Vets put distance between itself and Pioneer and improved to 4-0 in District 31-5A and 17-3 overall. Pioneer drops to 1-2, 13-7. Mission Vets coach Diana Lerma said her team was focused and ready to play Pioneer in the Diamondbacks gym.
“It’s easy for a coach to coach a team that knows what they want,” Lerma said of her squad. “They want to break school records. Our school has been to the Sweet 16 five times, and they want to beat that. This was like a playoff game. You can’t hear. It’s loud. But all that matters is that they are able to communicate and shut down everything else and play.”
Play they did, and impressively. Sophomore Kassy Lerma led all Patriots with 15 kills, followed by Howell’s 12. The high-flying Gerlach added 10 more kills to go with 17 digs and three blocks. Also for Mission Veterans, De La Fuente dished out 19 assists, and senior Dariana Garza picked up 18 digs.
All five stat leaders played a major part in each set victory. After knotting set one at seven, Mission Veterans went on two long runs to outscore Pioneer 18-8 the rest of the way behind the hitting of Kassy Lerma and Gerlach. Set two was nearly the same story, as Lerma recorded six kills and never let Pioneer score more than three straight points.
In the final set, Pioneer showed signs of life, taking a 6-3 lead behind the active and smart play of Audrey Smith. The senior and middle blocker Alicia Martinez showed their worth for the Diamondbacks by making plays and scoring points on kills and blocks. However, it just wasn’t enough to make a game of it.
“I thought we brought a lot of focus to this game. I knew they were going to be a very competitive team, and they are extremely talented,” Smith said. “We just wanted to leave it all out on the floor. Against good girls like these, you can’t be too disappointed when you put up a good fight.”