WESLACO — It looked like Weslaco East’s momentum had slipped away after an impressive first set.
The Wildcats were trailing in the third set after dropping the second, but they cruised to a 25-18, 14-25, 25-18, 25-11 victory in the District 32-5A opener against Brownsville Porter on Tuesday night at Weslaco East High School.
“Today, we struggled a little bit, but we continued to fight,” Weslaco East head coach Zonya Gorena said. “We have been preaching this summer, ‘Believe.’ I watched a lot of Ted Lasso over the summer, and one lesson I took was we need to believe.”
The Cowgirls carried momentum from the second set and built an 11-6 lead, but the Wildcats adjusted.
“We had just got a little comfortable,” Weslaco East captain Micaela Peralez said. “We realized that we had to finish it. We had to adjust our communication and we just needed to see the spots that we were leaving hop — that helped.”
Peralez praised the defense for stepping up. Weslaco East went on a 44-18 run to win the match.
Brownsville Porter had an impressive response after dropping the first set. Senior setter Melanie Ortiz set up Ebony Garza for some strong kills and even smashed some kills herself as the Cowgirls looked like they were enjoying some of their offensive success.
Weslaco East looked comfortable on its home court during the first set. The Wildcats went on a 9-1 run to go up 16-8 halfway through the first set after the teams went back-and-forth to begin. The Wildcats used the run to close out the set.
The teams return to district play next Tuesday.
“I am just really proud of the girls and glad we came together,” Gorena said. “I hope we can continue.”
