NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — The Edinburg Bobcats are a world away from where they started the 2018 season. The young team was green and committed more errors than coach Deanna Dominguez was used to seeing from a varsity unit.
Those days are gone.
EHS beat Edinburg Vela 25-23, 25-23, 25-17 on Saturday afternoon at Vela High School to make the 31-6A race tighter than when the day started with one game remaining in the regular season.
“It was a blessing to beat them again,” junior Victoria Fuentes said. “At the beginning of the season, we weren’t connecting together. So it really means a lot that now we really got together to do everything. For us to get together, we had to work really hard.”
Offensively, the Bobcats are tough to block thanks to Fuentes’ 6-foot-frame, long arms and leaping ability. Dominguez said the last step in unlocking her potential is strengthening their big hitter.
“Tori has definitely gotten physically stronger,” Dominguez said. “We really try to push the weight room on her and I think that was something that was totally new for her. Her endurance too, being able to block and pull off and hit repeatedly. There are times where she’s panting and I’m like ‘that’s why we do what we do.’”
Fuentes had 22 kills, four blocks and a pair of aces. She was active at the net and helped the Bobcats turn a 23-23 tie into the 25-23 win in set one.
One thing that makes her tough to defend is her ability to stay in the air and switch to a less powerful, more accurate tip to a soft spot in the defense.
“Tori and Ponce, they talk a lot, they communicate the chemistry is really great between them,” sophomore Hannah Vega said. “They’re just a really good duo.”
Vela took an early 8-4 lead but the second frame played out close. Fuentes played well early but her coach went with different personnel late in the set. After being knotted at 23 again, EHS won by two points.
“In practice, we try to simulate that,” Dominguez said. “Where we do a game of 20-20 or we give the team we’re scrimmaging against a bit of an advantage so we have to claw our way back and find a way to get those points.”
With Fuentes sitting, setter Renee Ponce adjusted and fed Zarina Rodriguez who ended the second set.
Ponce set the stage for her team again. She had 34 assists to go along with 17 digs and five kills.
‘We were really trying to do it for our seniors,” Vega said. “We know it’s Ponce and Bailey (Buckner’s) last year so we try to do it for them.”
Buckner had 20 digs and six kills. Arianna Guerra led the team in digs with 28 while Vega had 14 digs and two aces.
“It feels really great, a lot of people didn’t think we could pull it off,” Vega said. “We improved a lot.”
With the result and action around the district, the race in 31-6A has reached a climax. The top four teams and playoff qualifiers, Edinburg High, Edinburg Vela, Edinburg North and Weslaco High, all have identical 8-3 records.
Vela closes their season against Weslaco East, while Edinburg High hosts Donna North. Weslaco and Edinburg North will meet to end the season. All signs point to a three-way tie and the match between Weslaco and North deciding which team finished fourth.
“I just feel like all the teams have been stealing games from each other,” Dominguez said. “I don’t know, I’m just glad we’re finishing how we’re supposed to. We can’t even look at the big picture right now. We have to be like a horse with blinders and focus on what we got.”