BROWNSVILLE — Even with five girls unable to play Tuesday, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers managed to sweep the San Benito Lady Greyhounds.
The Lady ’Hounds struggled with their serve-receive and to maintain consistent passing. The contest saw both teams go on scoring runs behind a handful of strong servers. Brownsville Veterans pulled away late in all three sets to earn the 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 victory.
“We’ve faced some adversity on this team,” Lady Chargers coach Elizabeth Mares said. “But I told them, ‘Doesn’t matter how many. On the court, we’re six. That’s all you need.’ They came together and they had to fill in more positions than what they are accustomed to, so it was nice to see that they overcame that.”
The first set was tight early as both teams tried to settle in and find a rhythm. They stayed within two points of each other and often found the score tied before taking turns going on scoring runs as serving defined the set. Brownsville Veterans was the first to pull away, taking a 16-11 lead as Kassandra Garcia’s serving gave San Benito fits.
After a good timeout called by coach Ruby Medina, the Lady ’Hounds answered with a four-point run of their own. But San Benito couldn’t keep the momentum as it continued to struggle in the back row. Then, with her team trailing by seven, Alyssa Gonzalez showed her ability at the service line to trim the Lady ’Hounds’ deficit to 23-20.
Brownsville Veterans’ Katherine Fourt ended the streaky opening set with an ace to put her team on top.
“They had their little spurts, but they can’t maintain it. They do well, but on serve-receive at times they just tense up and give too many points away. Then we play well again, and there goes the passing,” Medina said. “They pass great in practice. They put too much pressure on themselves (in a game), and the ball doesn’t go where we need it to go.”
The Lady Chargers took control of the second and third sets quickly. Garcia’s serve again sent San Benito scrambling, and Brownsville Veterans took advantage of the free balls and tips. Setter Alexa Torres used her entire arsenal of hitters to aid a 7-0 start in the second. Garcia, Fourt and Monserrat De los Santos led the offensive attack for BVM.
San Benito didn’t go down easy. Gonzalez’s serving, smart offense from Yahaira Perez and a good effort at the net by Rubi Martinez gave the Lady Greyhounds their first lead of the set at 16-15.
The teams played each other tight in the back end of the set, but the variety in Brownsville Veterans’ attack made the difference. Fourt showed her all-around skills and played great from the back row, diving for digs and executing well in the passing game to give herself the opportunity to get some swings. De los Santos came up big at the net, and libero Andrea Chapa showed her serving prowess as the Lady Chargers went up 2-0.
“I told the girls, ‘You’ve come this far, don’t let it slip through your fingers. Let’s refocus and get a good pass,’” Mares said. “Our passing kind of suffered because they had good servers. (On Monday) we went over some footwork for serve-receive, so I told them to remember what we did.”
San Benito’s offense became a bit one-note due to the passing issues throughout the match. Playing out of system forced the Lady ’Hounds to rely on the outside hitters too much, and though Perez and Mackenzie Medina swing with power and notched some good kills, BVM’s defense anticipated the play by the third set. Martinez showed potential hitting from the middle, but she didn’t get enough opportunities.
“Once we get the passes to our setter, the hitters can hit the ball well and play smart. Our hitters were playing good, they were hitting their spots. … But if the passes are off, they scramble for balls and there’s more confusion,” Medina said. “We got some really good blocks from our middle, Rubi Martinez. I want her to get the ball more because she’s a really great hitter. She was not getting a lot of balls, it was all outside, because of our passes.”
Mares was pleased with the effort by her short-handed Lady Chargers. She felt their improved communication was key to them staying focused and motivated, and pulling out the win.
“What I did see a lot was more communication within the team, I feel like that had been lacking a bit,” Mares said. “In volleyball, there are some people that can read the other team, what they’re going to do, better than others. What I saw today was those girls that are better helping the others out. I could hear a lot of that on the court, so I praised them on that. That was one of the big positives, and just encouraging each other.”
