HARLINGEN — Harlingen High seniors Casey Vidal and Juli Bryant combined for 43 kills to finish non-district play on a high note Saturday.
The Cardinals defeated the Laredo LBJ Wolves in four sets, 28-26, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16. Vidal finished with 25 kills, and Bryant had 18.
“I think we played well,” Harlingen High coach Joslynn Torres said. “I think that this is the perfect game before district starts on Tuesday. They matched our level of play. The girls hung in there, and when we needed them to perform they did.”
The Cardinals took a strong 9-2 lead in the fourth set thanks to some well-placed serves by Vidal. The Wolves fought back to get within two.
A block by Alana Roquette jump-started a run for the Cardinals. Harlingen High took control of the set 22-9. Vidal finished the match when her kill found space between the Wolves’ front and back rows.
“We have been challenging ourselves a lot mentally,” Torres said. “We challenged to hold LBJ to only 15 points, they got to 16 points, but we have been getting better at finishing off teams because we are doing that little challenge and it is working.”
Torres hopes that mentality will help her team pull out close sets, she said.
Vidal also finished off the third and first sets for the Cardinals. Vidal and Bryant were routinely set up by Julie Valdez. The setter also provided sneaky points by catching the Wolves off guard with fake setups.
With the second set tied at 11, the Wolves went on a 6-0 run, taking a comfortable lead that they did not relinquish. Natalia Cisneros, Dorian Bareza and Jenelle Guajardo were key for Laredo LBJ throughout the match.
Early in the sets, Bryant was the one usually finding her spots to win points for the Cardinals. Vidal found her kills late in the set, and with the scored tied 26 in the first set the senior found the corner to go up 27-26.
To win the set, Vidal needed to return the ball on the third hit. An awkward second hit forced Vidal into the safe underhand return, but the net caught the return and the ball caught the Wolves off-guard, giving the highly contested set to Harlingen High.