By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Thanks to Monday’s college athletic scholarship signing, Porter’s Karla Sosa is taking her volleyball talents to the Texas Panhandle.
Sosa, a 5-foot-10 middle blocker and three-year starter for the Cowgirls, signed with Frank Phillips College in Borger and will play next school year for the Lady Plainsmen.
The Cowgirls’ senior standout is going to a successful junior college program that compiled a 35-6 record and advanced to the NJCAA Division I national tournament in 2015.
Sosa, who earned first-team 32-5A All-District and All-Metro honors last fall, participated in a recent tryout conducted by Frank Phillips coach Casey Williams and it led to a scholarship offer.
“This feels amazing, and it’s a blessing,” said Sosa, who plans to study nursing. “It’s something not everybody gets to do, and all in all, I’m pretty much excited about it.”
The distance between Borger and Brownsville almost kept Sosa from saying yes to the Lady Plainsmen.
“I went up there (for the tryout), and I was kind of iffy at first because it’s such a long drive,” Sosa said. “But after I practiced with the team, they told me they liked my attitude and what I did, and it was kind of mutual because I liked them, too, so we made an agreement.”
Laura Fortner coached Sosa all three years she was on the Porter varsity. Fortner said Monday marked the first time one of her volleyball players signed to play in college.
“I’m pretty young in the coaching world, and this is my first player to sign, so it feels very good,” Fortner said. “This means a lot because when I first got here (as Porter’s coach) they told me the volleyball team hadn’t been doing all that well. To me, seeing the passion and love I have for the sport was instilled in a player like Karla means a lot.
“I feel that Karla is very self-driven,” Fortner added. “There’s only so much a coach can do. She’s one of the few who will put in the work during the summer when no one is watching. Karla saw the level of play there (when she went to her tryout) and what it’s going to take (to succeed), so it kind of opened her eyes. She knows it’s not going to be easy, but I feel that her self-drive is going to help her a lot.”
Sosa is also a standout softball player in the outfield for Porter, but she will miss the upcoming playoffs due to a broken finger. She said she will be there to provide support for the Cowgirls in the postseason.
Beyond softball, Sosa said Fortner had a lot to do with sparking her interest in volleyball.
“She kind of made me love the game more,” Sosa said of her coach. “It made me decide to work harder throughout the years, and here I am. I’ve been recognized for (what I’ve done in) volleyball, and it feels good to be considered a threat (as a standout player).
“I’d just like to thank my coaches, my teammates, and most importantly, God,” she added.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess