FALFURRIAS — Corpus Christi Flour Bluff won a first set that was as on-the-edge-of-of-your-seat intense en route to a 30-28, 25-16, 17-25, 25-19 victory over Sharyland Pioneer on Tuesday in the Class 5A Region IV quarterfinal matchup at Falfurrias Junior High.
It was just a little too much height and power as the Hornets advance to the regional semifinals Friday against the winner of Alamo Heights and Dripping Springs, also played Tuesday, in San Antonio.
Senior Natalie Reyes, unquestionably the top setter across the Rio Grande Valley, ends her career with more than 3,000 sets, running a fluid Pioneer offense, for four years. The Diamondbacks, the District 31-5A champions, lose nine seniors heading into next season.
The Diamondbacks did what they did all season: spread the ball around, play solid defense and let Reyes control the match from pin to pin, keeping Flour Bluff off-balance with a wide variety of attacks and deep balls.
Pioneer led the early portion of the 40-minute set and Katie Salazar, Lorelai Hill, Thalia Ochoa, Mariana Treviño and Jordan Bravo all registered kills as the varied offense was in sync and the Hornets couldn’t get to the blocks quick enough. The teams traded power punches and the defenses dazzled the remainder of the way, neither team being able to pull away. Each team found itself in set-point situations before freshman big-swinging middle Margaret Croft put the set away.
“That was a tough 30,” Pioneer head coach Laura Cavazos said. “Our girls showed a lot of resiliency, and when you’re facing those big hitters, you’ve got to get what you can.”
Pioneer was clearly out of sync in the second set but managed to stay with Flour Bluff until the Hornets rallied off eight straight points to grab a 17-9 lead. Senior Katy Geurin pounded away for three kills during that run and Croft added a block. Geurin and Croft kept coming up with big kills throughout the set en route to the second-set victory.
That’s when Reyes, sitting on her chair in between sets and with her teammates gathered around her, said a few words of inspiration.
“It was in a high tone but it was all words of encouragement,” she said. “We just needed to get back to doing what we do and execute.”
That’s when Pioneer went from near dead to dominant. Cavazos changed the rotation, hoping for better matchups and got what she was looking for.
Hill and Ochoa dominated the third set Ochoa splitting the defense or hitting winners down the line. The highlight, however, came when Hill blocked the 6-foot Croft twice in a three-point stretch as the Diamondbacks closed it out with a 6-0 run.
The teams were tied at 7 in the fourth before Flour Bluff went on a 10-4 run and grab a 17-11 lead, which was too much for Pioneer to overcome, ending their best season in school history. The Diamondbacks finished with a 37-5 record, losing two sets in district, dropping one match to Gregory-Portland and two matches to Flour Bluff, which was in the same district at G-P.
Despite having arguably the strongest district in deep South Texas, District 29-5A’s Flour Bluff and Gregory-Portland — eliminated all four District 31-5A teams. Flour Bluff beat McAllen High and Sharyland Pioneer, while Gregory-Portland knocked off McAllen Rowe and McAllen Memorial.