McALLEN — In what could’ve been a playoff preview three months away, Sharyland High remained unbeaten on the year, sending Brownsville Veterans to its first loss as the two powers collided during the first day of pool play at McAllen High’s 16th annual Poundfest Volleyball Tournament.
The Rattlers (4-0) only needed two sets to defeat the Chargers (4-1) 25-22, 25-18 at McAllen Memorial High School. All three McAllen schools are sites for the three-day event.
Chargers senior middle hitter Katherine Elise Fourt started off strong, commanding the middle with kills and blocks.
The Rattlers came back late in the set behind the strong hitting of sophomore Kenisha Martinez and well-placed serves by fellow classmate Kassandra de la Garza.
“When it comes to serving, we give up too many easy points,” Sharyland High coach Raul Castillo said. “We need to serve smart, picking on their gaps. That is what we did here. We try to serve certain spots to make them a little uncomfortable when they would set their big girl, and hopefully they choose someone else. That is what we tried to do the whole time.”
A stinging block by Anacecy Pena won Sharyland High the first set. The power behind the shot had Pena shaking out her hands, but there was a smile after a grimace for securing the back-and-forth set.
Brownsville Veterans came out flat during the second set and was quickly down 12-4. It was more of the same from Sharyland High, monster hits from Martinez, well-placed serves and good blocks at the net.
The Rattlers continued to execute the game plan well, keeping the ball out of Fourt’s hands.
An ace by de la Garza set up match point for Sharyland High.
“The first set, I think they performed fairly well,” Chargers first-year head coach Sherry Hoskins said. “Sharyland is a top team, I really wanted to see how we would play against them. We know how we can play and that we can stay with them, but it is how we can finish off the set.”
The things the Chargers need to work on are small, mostly mental, Hoskins said.
“Sharyland is a tough team, they have some good hitters,” she said. “We are just going to work on those little things.”
