Brownsville Rivera coach Mary Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra felt her Lady Raiders didn’t put their best foot forward when they went toe-to-toe with powerhouse McAllen High on Tuesday.
In their home opener, the Lady Raiders couldn’t muster a consistent attack to back up star outside hitter Kenya Ibarra. Still, the scrappy squad battled against the Texas Girls Coaches Association 5A No. 9 Lady Bulldogs and went the distance in a back-and-forth match. McAllen High’s deep roster earned a 23-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 15-8 victory.
“Our hitters were off, the only one hitting was Kenya. I don’t know what it was, maybe it’s because it was the first time in front of the home crowd, maybe they were kind of timid. I don’t know what it was, but they just could not hit the ball today,” Avelar-Guerra said. “It was very frustrating for me to watch them play like that after the way they played in the tournament.”
First-year Lady Bulldogs coach Michael Smith was pleased with the mental toughness his team showed to pull out the win. McHi lost several points to some questionable calls that got the team and crowd frustrated at times, but with the game on the line it quickly shook off adversity and turned the momentum.
“Mental toughness is something we drill all the time. We have to practice that, that’s a skill, and these girls have really worked hard on it. Just keep the focus on controlling what we can control,” Smith said. “My job is just to put them in a good position, and they go and do it. That’s them being able to go out there and execute. They’re a smart group.”
The Lady Raiders won the first and third sets, fittingly with both ending on a booming kill from Ibarra. The all-around player showed her range with loud kills and well-placed tips from the front and back rows, and contributed to Rivera’s relentless defense that covers the court like a blanket.
But the rest of Rivera’s hitters struggled to get their timing down despite a solid effort from setter Clarissa Olivares. The Lady Raiders were fortunate to have early success due to issues with McHi’s block coverage. Rivera thrived on dropping tips just inside the 10-foot line that fell shy of the hands of diving back-row defenders.
McHi made adjustments as the match went on, switching from a one-setter to a two-setter system after dropping the opening set. The versatility of Kaydence Pritchard, who shared setting responsibilities with Aleah Saenz while adding some good swings and serves, opened up the offense.
Andrea Tovar, Shiela Zamora and Camilla Miller were dynamic on the net, getting blocks and touches to stymie Ibarra’s heavy swing and dominate the shaky Rivera attack. Veteran hitter Celina Saenz took control of the offense and was a key contributor late in the match.
“(Rivera has) a good team, and we just wanted to get some hands in front of (Ibarra). She’s a great player, and that’s so good for us to see a truly great high school player and have to defend that,” Smith said. “We’ll go back and look at the tape to see what we can do better, and always improve from here.”
Rivera’s staple, quick-covering defense was on full display against McHi. The Lady Raiders are without standout libero Richelle Guerra due to injury, but Ashlyn Tapia anchored the defense well in her absence.
Avelar-Guerra felt the passing wasn’t where it needed to be, but the main downfall for Rivera was the offense. The Lady Bulldogs were able to push points when Ibarra was in the back row, which helped them go on scoring runs during the later sets to put the game away.
“They learned how to play defense because that team was hitting hard. That’s what we were missing,” Avelar-Guerra said. “They play much better than that. They just have to work a little harder and start swinging. If they’re swinging and they’re hitting, have fun and play the game, they’ll be better.”
