By Roy Hess | The Brownsville Herald
Saint Joseph Academy’s inaugural varsity volleyball tournament has been a year in the making.
Originally, the tournament was to have been played last year at this time, but the threat of Hurricane Harvey canceled it.
It doesn’t appear that any bad weather will stop the tournament from happening this time.
The two-day tournament begins at two gyms on the SJA campus at 1 p.m. Friday with 11 teams.
SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said it’s possible a 12th team could be added since PSJA Memorial dropped out earlier this week.
Along with host SJA, the other 10 tournament teams are Brownsville First Baptist, Port Isabel, Jubilee Brownsville, San Isidro, San Juan IDEA, Santa Maria, Donna IDEA, Juan Diego Academy, La Villa and San Perlita.
The championship match is scheduled at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Asked who she considers the tournament favorite, Olguin-Trevino replied, “I don’t really see anyone as the favorite. I kind of have a feeling it’ll be evenly matched. I’m hoping it’s my team (winning it all). We’ll see.”
The Lady Bloodhounds are, basically, a young team with only two seniors–Juliet Reyes and Arely Fonrouge.
SJA is coming off Tuesday’s 25-15, 25-21, 25-14 non-district victory at home against Donna IDEA.
Ally Stachowiak led the way for the Lady Bloodhounds in the match with 15 kills, eight digs and two blocks. Mildred Verlage added seven kills, 12 digs and one block-stuff while teammate Bekah Rodriguez had 22 assists. Also for SJA, Victoria Gonzalez had five kills and Natalia Montemayor had 12 digs.
LATE DISTRICT START
Most years, district play starts sometime in August for the Rio Grande Valley’s UIL volleyball teams. That’s not the case this season, at least in the Lower Valley.
Because of a reduction from eight to six teams, District 32-6A starts on Sept. 18, which is one of the latest dates for it to begin in recent memory.
With its eight teams, District 32-5A is starting Sept. 8, while District 32-4A, which also has eight teams, begins Sept. 4.
Rivera is the defending champion in 32-6A, while Brownsville Veterans Memorial is the two-time defending champion in 32-5A. La Feria is the defending champion in 32-4A.
ON A ROLL
Jubilee Brownsville will enter the SJA Tournament with a 4-0 record. The Lady Titans are coming off Tuesday’s 25-14, 25-6, 25-15 victory against Edinburg Quest.
Coached by Lester Shears, the Lady Titans went 29-2 last season and advanced to the Texas Charter School Academic & Athletic League state semifinals.
Top players for the Lady Titans this season are Valentina Tijerina, Fernanda Bannock and Elise Forte.