HARLINGEN — For two weeks, the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals studied and prepared for Tuesday’s pivotal District 32-6A match against Los Fresnos.
Both teams came into the bout with 4-0 district records, including victories in straight sets over defending champion Brownsville Rivera, and had raucous student sections cheering them on. But it was the No. 19 Lady Cardinals (26-5, 5-0) that pulled off the 25-13, 25-20, 25-15 victory over the Lady Falcons (16-12, 4-1) to get one step closer to their goal of capturing the district title.
“I get chills because it means so much to us. It feels amazing. I am beyond proud,” Harlingen High coach Joslynn Torres said. “This team has a lot of swag, and they know how to put that into their play. It feels great. We’re going to carry it over to the next game because every game is just as important. They’re doing great right now, the consistency looks really nice, I’m so proud of them.”
Harlingen High’s dynamite trio of Juli Bryant, Casey Vidal and Elena Aguinaga were strong from the start. All three recorded aces as the Lady Cards jumped out to a 13-4 lead during the first set, quickly setting the tone for the match.
Bryant and Vidal, the outside-hitting opposites, made great decisions at the net, ripping down hard kills and dropping well-placed tips to open spots behind Los Fresnos’ typically disruptive block.
“It feels great. Having a great district opener with Rivera and them coming in and sweeping Los Fresnos, it boosts our energy and we know we can power through the rest of the district,” Bryant said. “It took a lot of practice and extra effort. (Our preparation) really helped us out because we were in the right mindset. I can’t wait to see what we do the rest of the season.”
Aguinaga, the libero, and defensive specialists Mallory Sauceda and Natalie Garcia passed well to keep Harlingen High firing on all cylinders. Setter Juliana Valdez found success with second-touch tips and gave her hitters plenty of opportunities for solid swings.
Los Fresnos had some success with its block as Shiloh Jones and Savannah Smith slowed and stuffed a few hits. But the Lady Falcons couldn’t consistently defend the tip and didn’t finish at the net enough to affect Harlingen High’s attack.
The Lady Cardinals’ offense sent Los Fresnos scrambling and kept its offense out of system throughout all three sets. Libero Caydence Castillo and defensive specialist Cory Reyes made some nice digs and hustle plays against Harlingen High’s power hitters, but overall, the Lady Falcons didn’t pass with precision and struggled to find a rhythm.
“We watched film, and we critiqued every single movement that every single player on that team does,” Torres said. “Today was all about execution. You have to play smart, and that’s what we really emphasized. Our homework was done to the T. To see them strategically play and take them out of their game was the goal. Every single point, I said, ‘You take them out of system,’ and they did and it was obvious.”
Los Fresnos’ passing woes led to its hitters sending touches long as they couldn’t get a proper approach on sets off the net, and sending over too many free balls.
Bryant and middle blocker Aaliyah Gomez took advantage of passes into the net by getting up and slamming down kills to keep Harlingen High in control. Gomez and Bryant got blocks and touches to throw the Lady Falcons off when they were executing in system.
The Lady Falcons played behind big deficits throughout the match, but coach Anissa Lucio was happy with the fight they showed in spurts and after the loss. During the second set, the closest of the night, Los Fresnos went from being down 12-8 to a slim 13-12 deficit. When Harlingen High responded with a four-point run, the Lady Falcons came out of a timeout and put together their own 4-0 run, trailing 17-16. But they couldn’t maintain momentum long enough to sway the match.
“Regardless of the score, we were showing some fight and we were back and forth. We just couldn’t close it at the end. Give credit to Harlingen, they played a really good game,” Lucio said.
Jones hit well from the opposite pin and notched some blocks as Los Fresnos’ most consistent front row player in the match. Olivia Parra and Dakota Martinez had some solid moments for Los Fresnos, and Marcela Tijerina contributed with her tough serve.
“We didn’t have it tonight, but I’ve never seen my girls with the fight they have in their eyes that I see right now,” Lucio said. “My girls are hungry. Our goals don’t change by any means, we’re still fighting for district. Adversity is good right now. We need to learn from this. We’re going to remember what this felt like and definitely turn it around for next time.”
