The intensity in the Brownsville Veterans Memorial gym was palpable when the Lady Chargers hosted the Brownsville Pace Lady Vikings on Tuesday.
Both teams were 5-0 in District 32-5A heading into the pivotal match that had title implications, and the fans came out in droves to cheer on their respective teams.
The crowd made the gym too loud to hear the referee’s whistle at times and got to its feet often as the teams battled — one BVM student even busted out a trumpet and led the home crowd in the classic “charge” chant. Brownsville Veterans’ deep arsenal of hitters and tough serving threw Pace off its game, leading to a 25-23, 27-25, 25-21 sweep for the Lady Chargers.
“This is the kind of environment you want to be in, play in, have this many fans in. I told them, ‘Appreciate that, be grateful for that, especially during these times.’ It was wonderful,” BVM coach Lisa Mares said. “We’re peaking at a good time.”
Pace took a quick 3-0 lead on errors committed by BVM, then the Lady Chargers settled down to tie. They took their first lead at 8-7 with help from some miscommunication errors by Pace.
The opening set stayed tight with neither team going up by more than two points until late in the action. Pace middle blocker Andie Lozano-Lomeli and outside hitter Natalisha Torres were effective at the net with hard kills, tips and blocks to cause a plethora of errors by the Lady Chargers and take an 18-15 lead.
Following an injury to every-rotation player Kassy Garcia, Brownsville Veterans came back determined. Alexa Torres’ serving and an excellent finishing ability from standout middle blocker Elise Fourt helped the Lady Chargers pull away and win the set despite good fight from Pace.
“Going through adversity … has really helped us, and we’ve come together,” Mares said. “I told them, ‘Relax. I know it’s getting loud and it’s exciting, but just relax and focus on your jobs.’”
Fourt kept her momentum to put BVM in charge during the second set. Her block and powerful swing sent the Lady Vikings scrambling as the Lady Chargers went up 7-1.
Pace did well to chip away at the deficit in the raucous environment. Torres and libero Bryanna Narvaez used solid defense to get the offense rolling. Outside hitter Ashley Gonzalez notched a block and contributed with hustle plays, then Lozano-Lomeli stuffed Fourt to make it 14-10 in favor of BVM.
Lady Chargers middle Carrington Lane was strong at the net to keep her team on top. She used a mix of heavy swings and well-placed tips to cause Pace’s passing woes to flare up, then took advantage by slamming down over passes.
Torres and Lozano-Lomeli were strong at the net to help Pace fight off five set points and push the second set, but poor passing sunk the Lady Vikings late.
“We were down in the second set and came back,” Pace coach Daya Venegas said. “We lost (close), but they fought back. This team has confidence to come back and compete.”
When the Lady Vikings’ passing allowed them to stay in system, the Lozano-Lomeli sisters showed off their impeccable connection. With Dyllan delivering a perfect set, Andie sent down rocket kills to any spot on the court. But the inconsistency with serve-receive and struggles against BVM’s powerful hitters resulted in too many errors and lackluster free balls, causing Pace to fall in three.
“Veterans is a great team. We had a plan, and it didn’t go our way but I’m proud of the job that they did,” Venegas said. “We had a lot of mistakes in serve-receive, and that was the key of the game. We got to go back and do some work.”
Brownsville Veterans made some lineup changes after the early injury and showcased their depth as the players responded and didn’t miss a beat. Torres was solid in the back row to help libero Andrea Chapa shore up the defense. Chapa made stellar digs and precise passes throughout the match, helping setter Paulina Ramirez mix up her hitters and run a dynamic offense.
“(Ramirez is) just a sophomore and she’s great,” Mares said. “She’s been running a five-one (with our other setter injured), and she’s really been improving in her game. She works hard.”
Montserrat De Los Santos turned in an impressive performance, and Gracie Avila and Gladis Espinoza contributed to the Lady Chargers’ attack. Back-to-back aces from Fourt put BVM firmly in control late, and then a missed serve from Pace on match point caused the Lady Chargers’ crowd — filled with cowboy hat-wearing students — to erupt as their team clinched the victory.
“The environment was really good, and they motivated us,” Ramirez said. “We stayed focused the entire time and we executed really well, all did our jobs. It all started with a good pass, then that gave us good hits. I never ran out of options today. Everyone played their ‘A’ game.”
