By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Rivera got off on the right foot to start the season.
The Lady Raiders (1-0) were pushed at times but held off Edinburg Economedes (0-1) in all three games to take the match 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 for their first win of the season Tuesday at Rivera.
“The girls played well, but I think they had some first-game jitters,” Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “I told them they played better than what they should have. But we showed some sparks of what they can do.”
The teams battled back and forth during the first game and were tied at 12. Rivera took a 20-15 lead with Claudia del la Garza serving up point after point. Economedes battled back, but Rivera held off the rally and Michelle Morales ended Game 1 with a kill.
Economedes started off strong in Game 2 and was in control early. But the Lady Raiders again fought back to tie it at 15, and then Darcy Cardenas served six straight points to go ahead. Economedes got within two points at 21-19, but Rivera forced the Lady Jaguars into errors down the stretch and took Game 2.
Economedes took the early lead in Game 3, but Rivera battled back once again with seven straight points to take a 10-7 lead. The two teams battled back and forth and the Lady Raiders maintained a three-point lead at 19-16. The Lady Raiders finished on a 6-2 run with kills by del la Garza, Litzy Medina and Morales to take the final game and the match.
The Lady Jaguars were right there in all three games but had trouble closing it out down the stretch.
“There are little things we have to work on,” Edinburg Economedes coach Christina Sota said. “Overall we did well, we just need to work on communicating, moving toward the ball.
“We just have to go from that, we weren’t finishing. We were in it, we were getting there and then one mistake happened.”
Marixa Viera led the Lady Jaguars with seven kills and three blocks, and Brittany Rodriguez had five kills and one block for Economedes.
Ulyssa Alvarado led the way with eight kills and Morales had five kills to pace the Lady Raiders. Kourtney Shears had 13 assists and del la Garza added nine assists for Rivera in the opener.
Avelar-Guerra saw some things that the team will work on in upcoming practices.
“We need to work on our hitting and being more aggressive,” she said. “And wait for our sets so we’re not behind the ball.”
But she was pleased overall after the first match of the season.
“(Economedes) had really good defense, they were picking up a lot of balls, they caught us out of position a few times,” Avelar-Guerra said. “The girls played well, and I’m proud of them. They still have a ways to go, but they played well for the first game.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.