ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Rivera Lady Raiders are entering the new volleyball season with only one senior, who happens to be hurt.
The team has a good amount of young talent, but it just has to come together and prove itself.
The UIL season opened with workouts last week.
“We’ve been having some good practices,” said Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra, whose girls went to the playoffs as the third-place team from District 32-6A last season after capturing the district crown in 2017. “The girls are young and they’re working hard.
“We’re concentrating on working together and getting to know each other better and how each one plays,” Avelar-Guerra added. “I see them improving.”
There are four or five players back with varsity experience, but at least two of them are injured, the coach said.
One of the returnees who is healthy and playing well is sophomore Kenya Ibarra, a 5-foot-10 middle blocker who was The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Newcomer of the Year last season as a freshman.
The next challenge this week for the Lady Raiders and just about every other Valley team is playing in a tournament for the first time this season.
Some teams opened the regular season by playing non-district matches on Tuesday, while others begin the regular season with tournament play today, Friday and Saturday.
Rivera is playing in the Poundfest Tournament starting today in McAllen.
“I want us to be competitive,” Avelar-Guerra said of the goal for her team at Poundfest. “I’d like to see us finish as the top seed in our group. There will be some good teams at the tournament, so I know the competition will be tough.”
Besides Rivera, other teams at Poundfest are McAllen High, Edinburg North, Weslaco East, Porter, McAllen Memorial, La Feria, PSJA Memorial, Laredo Cigaroa, Los Fresnos, Pace, PSJA High, Weslaco High, Edinburg Economedes, Sharyland High, McAllen Rowe,
Port Isabel, Harlingen High, Hanna, Edinburg Vela, PSJA North, Brownsville Veterans Memorial, McAllen Memorial JV and McHi JV.
The other big volleyball event this week in the Valley is the Donna Tournament, which starts Friday. The teams playing there include San Benito, Monte Alto, Laredo Martin, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, Harlingen South, Grulla, Mercedes, Raymondvile, Donna High, Donna North, Rio Hondo, La Joya High, San Perlita, Edcouch-Elsa, Lyford, Valley View, Roma, Mission High, La Joya Palmview, Edinburg High, Lopez, Rio Grande City and San Diego.
St. Joseph Academy was entered at Donna, but had to pull out because Friday is SJA’s first day of school.