By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowgirls are making some noise in District 32-5A volleyball.
Porter (10-15, 3-1 district) remained in the thick of the 32-5A race with a 25-17, 26-24, 25-14 victory on its home court Tuesday against Pace (6-11, 1-3).
“Tonight was crucial. It’s always a crucial match when we play Pace,” Cowgirls coach Laura Fortner said. “The thing that I thought really helped our team tonight was that everyone played a part (in getting the victory). From the defense to the passing to the strong serving, I felt like every single person had something to contribute.
“Not many times can you say that, because there always seems to be that one girl who carries the team,” Fortner added. “Tonight for us, it was all of them. They just came together.”
Leading the way for the Cowgirls were Marquel Rivera with 21 assists and seven digs, and Karen Garcia had 14 digs and three aces. Also for Porter, Karla Sosa recorded 12 kills, five digs and three blocks, and Melanie Gasca added six blocks.
“Before the match, we really prepared ourselves,” Sosa said. “We really focused (on winning). Every time we meet Pace it’s always something personal. We really wanted it.”
For Pace, Valeria Varela had nine kills, Jessica Aguilar had 13 assists, Summer Bohn had seven assists and Nadia Mendoza had nine digs and three aces. Also for the Lady Vikings, Keyla Maldonado had six digs and three aces, and Ebony Casanova had 26 digs.
There were two early ties in the first game before the Cowgirls were ahead for good at 4-3 and led by as many as 10 points, 23-13, en route to taking the opening set 25-17.
Pace battled back from a 17-9 deficit in the second game to tie the score at 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24, and even led 23-22 before back-to-back hitting errors by the Lady Vikings enabled the Cowgirls to prevail 26-24.
Pace surged to an 8-4 advantage in the third game thanks to a kill by Varela before the Cowgirls came back to tie the score at nine and then reel off eight straight points with Garcia, a libero, serving to go ahead 17-9. Garcia had her three aces during that stretch.
Minutes later, the Lady Vikings couldn’t quite get the ball to make it over the net, giving Porter a 25-14 win in the third game as the Cowgirls swept the match.
“You come into this place and it’s always going to be a crazy match between Porter and Pace,” Lady Vikings coach Gavin Rudder said. “It’s crazier, I think, for Coach Fortner and I because I coached her (in college) and I’ve known her forever.
“Our team started off slow and then we came back strong in the second game, but we just couldn’t really pull it out,” Rudder added. “We had that (8-4 and then a) 9-7 lead in the third game before their libero went on a tear (serving) and kind of took the wind out of our sails.
“Porter is a good team. Coach Fortner is doing a good job with those girls.”