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(Note: Check back throughout the next few days for stories on all of the RGVSports.com All-Area and All-Star winners)
The House of Pain, Brownsville Pace’s gym, was alive this volleyball season, even on a quiet Saturday afternoon because of a special team and a very special player, Andie Lozano-Lomeli.
The Brownsville Pace senior middle stole the show this season to help lead the Vikings to a District 32-5A title, the first district title in 20 years, and doing so as a humble leader with an infectious personality and a strong middle presence that terrorized opposing defenses.
Lozano-Lomeli is The Brownsville Herald/Valley Morning Star MVP for the 2023 season.
Not many athletes can make an impact on a program like Lozano-Lomeli has done for Brownsville Pace, and not just this season, but in her four years.
Most volleyball matches on a Saturday tend to not draw the largest crowds, usually attended by family members, a few old timers and maybe some football players catching the action after receiving similar treatment from Friday night games.
However, with Lozano-Lomeli, there was always a decent crowd on those usually quiet noon matches, but especially on Tuesday night to see Brownsville Pace’s best team in 20 years, but to also witness the city’s best hitter.
After the match, the middle hitter would be surrounded by starstruck younger volleyball seeking photos with their favorite player. Lozano-Lomeli relished in the opportunity to be an example to the youth looking up to her.
“I grew up at Pace because my mom has worked there my whole life, so I was always around the gym watching the older girls and envisioning the possibilities of my future,” Lozano-Lomeli said.
“They were and are a constant reminder of what I wanted to be. This is why it’s so full circle for me to be a role model for the younger girls, as I feel I can inspire them to grow.
“Another factor of growing in the Viking community is I have lots of school pride, which is why being MVP this year means so much. I got the opportunity to represent my school and community through volleyball, it’s important to own where you are from and represent your past.”
Lozano-Lomeli had the opportunities to play at other schools, but wanted to represent her home and because of this learned to work hard and not necessarily go the easier route, she said.
The senior could have easily sat out as a freshman or sophomore, or even as a junior and played at a different school, but at Brownsville Pace she helped a team that had not had much recent success into becoming a top team in the Brownsville area along with Brownsville Veterans, Brownsville Rivera and Los Fresnos.
Lozano-Lomeli finished this season with 458 kills, 101 digs, 68 total blocks and 28 aces. The senior was crucial late in sets and important in clashes with district rivals.
Being a key player in the Valley this season gave Lozano-Lomeli plenty of confidence in those moments, she said. The senior provided a meeting at Harlingen South as an example of having to step up.
Lozano-Lomeli is quick to credit her teammates and her coach Daya Venegas for her success. Venegas added plays this season to enhance Lozano-Lomeli’s talents.
“She will be a difficult player to replace, not only due to her talent but also due to her humble leadership. She is one who always leads by example, motivates, and binds a team together,” Venagas said.
Venegas added that Lozano-Lomeli’s passion for the sport and pride in her school is contagious, and that coupled with her intelligence and inviting spirit makes her a role model to many.
“Whenever we had camps or visited the feeding schools, she doesn’t hesitate to speak on behalf of the program, and you can see the look in the younger girls’ eyes, eager to one day be just like her,” Venegas said.
Lozano-Lomeli became a better athlete because of her community, team, family and coaches she said and hopes to become an even better one playing college volleyball.
The senior middle is committed to Texas Lutheran University.
