BROWNSVILLE — It was not the five-set thriller delivered in the first round of district play, it was a one-sided affair, a restoration of power atop the standings of District 32-5A.
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers, the defending district champions, swept aside the Brownsville Pace Vikings 25-12, 25-20, 25-17 on Saturday at Brownsville Veterans.
The Chargers move into first place of the district at 16-1 at the expense of the Vikings, who are now 15-2 in district, with one match remaining.
“They did a fabulous job.” Chargers head coach Sherry Hoskins said. “They are the better team, I am sorry, they have always been the better team and they played as a team.”
Brownsville Veterans prepared for this game in the film room, Chargers captain Elise Fourt said. The senior had a strong showing at the net and was hitting her spots with powerful kills.
“We did exactly what we did in practice today, and every single time it worked,” Fourt said. “Deep corners, one of their outsides that is not the strongest in the back row. Deep seam between six and one … that is where one of their outsides play, we were just hitting to her deep and we probably made a point every single time.”
The beginning of each set was tight. During the first set, the score was 9-9 before the Chargers opened things and went on a 16-3 run to win the set. The rest of the sets followed suit.
The Vikings had their day Sept. 20 against the Chargers. They were the better team that day, but Saturday belonged to Brownsville Veterans.
“We were not expecting to lose at all in our district, we have been reigning undefeated district champs, and so that loss to Pace really opened our eyes,” Fourt said. “We need to focus, we need to come together as a team and that first set, once we got up by 10, we knew.”
The Chargers have not sailed off into the sunset with a district title yet. They face the Edcouch-Elsa Yellowjackets in the final match of the season Tuesday. The Yellowjackets nearly beat the Chargers in the first round, taking Brownsville Veterans to five sets in Brownsville and winning the first two sets of that match.
Brownsville Lopez defeated Brownsville Porter in another pivotal match Saturday. The Lobos clinched a playoff spot with the 25-16, 25-23, 25-13 sweep over the Cowgirls at Lopez.
Brownsville Rivera fell in four sets to Harlingen High, also on Saturday. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19 in Brownsville. The Raiders will now settle for third in District 32-6A.
The final matches of the district season will be Tuesday. The UIL volleyball playoffs will begin on Halloween.