Mission Veterans holds its championship trophy after winning the Donna ISD Volleyball Tournament gold bracket over Mission High on Saturday at Donna High School in Donna. Photo by Bryan Ramos | [email protected]
Mission Veterans tops Mission to win Donna tourney championship
By BRYAN RAMOS
Staff Writer
DONNA — “The Battle of Conway,” the annual football game between sister schools Mission High and Mission Veterans Memorial, is 13 days away, but the Eagles and Patriots volleyball squads delivered an early look into the crosstown rivalry on the court.
Mission Veterans and Mission High both maneuvered their way through 26 other teams to collide in the gold bracket championship game at the Donna ISD Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at Donna High School. The Patriots prevailed 25-19, 25-20 against the Eagles, completing a perfect showing at the tourney by winning all 12 sets played over two days.
“It’s a sense of pride that both Mission schools were battling it out,” Mission Veterans head coach Diana Lerma said. “We’ve always wanted to play in ‘The Battle of Conway,’ so that was the first thing (the team) said. Our goal was to come in here and take the tournament, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Rylie Barnett led Mission Veterans with 18 kills, Evelyn Vela dished out 27 assists and teammates Jacky Nino and Chloe Rosillo combined to add nine kills.
The Patriots led the entirety of Set 1 before being pushed by the Eagles during the second. Each time Mission made a run, however, Barnett was there to hammer home an emphatic swing for a point.
“Everybody’s got to do their job and understand that they have a huge part in making our team go further in the playoffs. That’s our intention, not only to get that district title, but to go far in the playoffs,” Lerma said.
Mission Veterans took down Edinburg North 25-15, 25-22 in the gold bracket’s first semifinal to advance to the championship. Then, Mission High did its part in the semifinals by making quick work of Laredo Martin 25-19, 25-13, setting up the all-Mission championship match.
Mission High head coach Edna Clemons said the Eagles are going to build off their run to the tournament championship, which included impressive victories over Laredo Martin and District 31-6A opponent Edinburg Economedes on Saturday.
“It’s like the girls mentioned, ‘The Battle of Conway’ happened in Donna, Texas, today.’ We came out short, but I’m excited for this season and I’m excited where we ended this tournament,” Clemons said. “We saw where we need to improve, we saw what we need to do to execute and we never want to peak at the beginning, so we’re going to work hard to get to where we need to be.”
The Patriots are back in action at 9 a.m. Thursday against PSJA Memorial as part of the Mission Varsity Tournament at Mission Veterans High School. The Eagles are headed to a tri-match against Donna High and Weslaco High beginning at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Mission High School before also hosting the three-day tournament Thursday through Saturday.
