ROMA — It was a heck of a week for La Joya Palmview.
The Lobos defeated Mission Veterans Memorial on Tuesday and then followed it up with a four-set win over Roma on Saturday in Roma.
Roma and La Joya Palmview entered the day undefeated in District 30-5A, but it is the Lobos that are alone atop the district standings at 5-0. La Joya Palmview won the match 25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16.
Lobos head coach Margo Iglesias-Cantu said it was a phenomenal week for her team, despite missing players for both games.
“I told all of the girls that is why we can’t get complacent,” Iglesias-Cantu said. “I put them in every position and they have to be ready. They came out here today as a team and were ready, focused and had watched film. I came in confident because we were ready.”
The Lobos won the fourth set fairly easy to win the match after highly contested and emotional second and third sets.
Miley Zieske killed off the match and led her team with 15 kills. Erika Tijerina and Jeslynn Flores each finished with seven kills.
Flores also came up strong at the net with five blocks and was pivotal in containing one of the best hitters in the district Elaiza Martinez. Flores was praised by Iglesias-Cantu for her ability to jump and her mental toughness.
“It was so rowdy today. I am really proud of my team for blocking out the fans,” Flores said. “I know they were calling us out by name and everything, but we fought until the end and we had a strong mindset coming in that we wanted to win. And we did.”
Zieske also finished the third set with a kill to give the Lobos a 2-1 lead after losing the contentious second set. The set was tied 13 times in the second as Martinez battled against Zieske, Tijerina, Flores and Arianna Alaniz at the net.
Tijerina was clutch in the first, picking up four of her seven kills – including the set-winner.
La Joya Pamview returns to action against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home, while Roma faces Laredo Martin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Laredo.
