By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The dress rehearsal, so to speak, is over.
The Porter Cowgirls will take some momentum into their District 32-5A volleyball opener later in the week thanks to Tuesday’s three-game sweep of Port Isabel in non-district action at the Porter gym.
The Cowgirls won 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 as they found a way to surge ahead midway through each game and maintain their momentum to the end.
The Porter girls (6-14) next open 32-5A play at 2 p.m. Saturday at Donna North.
“This definitely helps us,” said Laura Fortner, Porter’s third-year coach. “We had been going through some hardships our last couple of matches. This (win) was really important to get the momentum we needed going into district.
“Honestly, I think our bench had a lot to do with helping us win,” she added. “Whenever anyone from our bench went in, the momentum (in our favor) never changed. Everyone (on the bench) was cheering (for them) and the mistakes that were made didn’t get the girls down. I think that was the biggest factor for us tonight as opposed to our last two matches (that we lost).”
During the first game, the score was tied at 12 before Porter went ahead by as many as six points, 19-13, en route to winning 25-21.
Port Isabel didn’t help itself much in the second game by serving the ball into the net six times and having another serve sail long. The Cowgirls were up by as many as seven points, 13-6, and cruised to a 25-18 victory.
The Lady Tarpons led briefly, 5-2, during the final game before Porter tallied the next four points to take the lead for good, 6-5, on a tip by Karla Sosa. Actually, the Cowgirls reeled off eight points in a row during that stretch to lead 10-5 and swept the match by taking the third game 25-19.
Top performers Tuesday for the Cowgirls were setter Marquel Rivera (18 assists, five digs, four kills, one block), middle blocker Sosa (10 kills, four blocks, one ace) and libero Karen Garcia (16 service points, 15 digs, one ace).
For Port Isabel, the standouts included Simone Harry (nine kills, two aces), Amaya Lampkin (five kills, three aces), Olivia Soliz (five kills), Natalie Salinas (eight assists) and Alex Martinez (10 digs).
“I thought we played hard and we fought, but we made too many little mistakes,” said Lady Tarpons coach Julie Breedlove, whose team opens District 32-4A action at 2 p.m. Saturday at Zapata. “Service errors got us. That was the (only) difference in the second game, really. We need to fix those things.
“It would have been nice to go into district with a win, but Coach Fortner has done a very good job with these girls here at Porter, and they really gave us a good match,” Breedlove added. “I was proud of the way our girls played, but we just made too many mistakes and Porter capitalized on those.”