SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — With Saturday’s match against Sharyland High tied at 1 game, Sharyland Pioneer was up by five points in Game 3. Then Sharyland High won three straight points to push it to a two-point game.
Pioneer coach Laura Cavazos could have called a timeout, but decided against it. She got off the bench, gave some simple instructions to her team and, after a long volley, Pioneer picked up the next point and never looked back, moving into sole possession of second place in District 31-5A, while Sharyland High remains in third place.
Pioneer won the District 31-5A showdown 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14, one day after Pioneer’s football team beat Sharyland High for the first time ever.
In the first meeting of the season, Sharyland High (21-16, 9-4 in 34-5A) upset Pioneer (26-8, 10-3) in a closely-contested four set battle. But Rattlers coach Raul Castillo saw a Pioneer team that played better Saturday.
“I think they just figured us out, that’s it,” Castillo said. “They played a great game compared to last time. They just lined up correctly, made the right reads and got a lot of touches off the block.”
Cavazos spends most matches seated on the bench. During that moment in Game 3, she knew she had her whole team’s attention.
“It’s a new technique,” Cavazos said. “I used to stand, and I just feel, with the team that I have, they don’t need me to cheer on the sidelines for them. They need me to make adjustments and communicate to them. So, I guess, it does have more weight when I step off.
“They know to look at me during those circumstances, because I want to make an adjustment or I have something to tell them.”
It worked in this instance. Pioneer took seven of the next 10 points to seal Game 3.
Pioneer took that momentum into Game 4 and scored five quick points. Castillo was forced to call a timeout. Out of the break, the Lady Rattlers looked to be gaining some momentum, scoring three straight points, but Pioneer bounced back and got a quick win to seal the match.
Junior setter Audrey Smith was a major factor for Pioneer. She finished with five aces, eight kills, three blocks, 26 assists and 11 digs.
“Audrey’s always pretty consistent,” Cavazos said. “She did a great job serving them off the floor tonight.”
Senior outside hitter Savannah James and sophomore middle blocker Daizy Coronado each had 10 kills.
“Savannah did an incredible job of executing what we wanted to execute on the outside,” Cavazos said. “Daizy is our sophomore. It’s her first year on varsity and we have been working all season long to get her more involved.”
Sharyland High junior outside hitter Caleigh Hausenfluck had one ace and 36 digs. Senior opposite hitter Hannah Kirby notched 10 kills, six digs, three blocks and two aces.
Castillo was disappointed in the loss.
“Any other loss is hard,” he said. “But against your rival, sister school, it’s even harder to accept. We didn’t take advantage of certain situations we should have. Our service was a little off, but when we had good passes and digs we just didn’t take advantage.
“We took too many easy shots, instead of being the risk-takers that we usually are, that got us that first win.”