Longtime head coach Cynthia Viesca is working to bring a long and rich winning culture back to the Donna Bravettes. Meanwhile, Gavin Rudder is looking to create that culture as he begins his first year at Weslaco.
Led by returning senior Erica Garcia and junior Isabel Lawson, Donna overcame a second-set wake-up call from Weslaco to capture a 25-13, 11-25, 16-14 victory over the visiting Panthers during a tri-match with Mission High on Tuesday at Donna High. In other matches at Donna, Mission won both matches, 25-22, 25-7 over Weslaco and 25-11, 25-7 over Donna.
“We pulled out that first set but felt we relaxed a little in the second, and Weslaco woke up and they were swinging and got their hitters going,” said Viesca, who is closing in on her 500th career coaching victory. “Before the third set, I told them that if Weslaco got a good pass they were going to hit the ball and they did. We are a young team trying to learn our positions defensively, and learning to chase the ball down and who can help the setter when the ball doesn’t get passed to her.”
Lawson registered a pair of kills down the line to clinch the victory during the Bravettes’ 3-0 run that started with them battling back from down 15-14. Prior to that, with Lawson serving, Donna put together a 5-0 run, highlighted by a saving dig and two kills from Garcia.
“Usually we have setters returning, this year we have our outsides and they are opposite each other, so we know we always have one of them in the front row,” Viesca said. “They are coming around.”
It looked as if Weslaco would pull off the victory, gaining momentum following a full-speed crash into the bleachers by Elizabeth Craig and an unexpected save by the Panthers’ defense en route to an 8-4 lead.
While the Panthers looked stronger on the attack, led by right-side Jazmyn Cano and Mia Chapa, the Donna defense withstood the challenge and played consistent by blocking holes and forcing Weslaco to make aggressive errors.
“In the third set we were reading their hitters more, looking at their shoulders and covering those spots they hit during the second set,” Lawson said. “It came down to letting them make their own mistakes and using it to our advantage and just playing smart at the end, finding open spots and keeping a positive attitude as a team. That helped us pull through.”
