East Valley Volleyball: District races picking up steam

The district certification deadline for volleyball is three weeks away, and district races are heating up as the postseason nears.

The District 32-6A race got a bit more interesting this week after Brownsville Rivera handed Harlingen High its first district loss Tuesday.

On Saturday, No. 16 Harlingen High (8-1) bounced back to earn a sweep over Harlingen South (4-5), and the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons (8-1) traveled to Donna North and picked up a 25-7, 25-15, 25-9 victory. The Rivera Lady Raiders are one game behind the leaders at 7-2 after defeating Weslaco High 25-16, 25-12, 19-25, 25-16. Rivera travels to Los Fresnos on Tuesday for a massive district match.

San Benito (3-6) defeated Brownsville Hanna (3-6) at home Saturday, avenging a first-round loss to the Lady Eagles.

In District 32-5A, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers continued their dominance and improved to 9-0 with a 25-12, 25-12, 25-11 victory over Brownsville Lopez (3-6) on Saturday. Brownsville Pace remains in second place at 8-1 after defeating Donna High (5-4) 25-17, 23-25, 25-12, 25-15 on the road Saturday.

Brownsville Porter (4-5) defeated Weslaco East (1-8) behind another solid effort from middle blocker Brianna Franco (17 kills, three blocks) and setter Andrea Perez (41 assists, 10 digs, four aces). The Porter Cowgirls are in the playoff hunt, one game behind fourth-place Donna High. Edcouch-Elsa is in third at 6-3 after sweeping Mercedes (0-9) on Saturday.

The Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats maintained their perfect record in District 32-4A with a comeback victory Saturday at La Feria. After dropping the first set 25-18, Rio Hondo came back to take the next three 25-15, 25-14, 30-28 to improve to 6-0. La Feria falls to 3-3.

Raymondville (4-2) beat Port Isabel (0-6) 25-13, 25-10, 25-17, and Hidalgo (2-3) took on Grulla (2-3) on Saturday.

Brownsville IDEA Frontier swept Brownsville Jubilee on Friday to remain in second place in District 32-3A at 5-1. The Lady Chargers are one game behind Progreso (6-0).

Santa Rosa (2-4), Jubilee (2-3), and Brownsville IDEA Riverview (2-3) are in the 32-3A playoff hunt with the district season coming to a close. Brownsville Harmony is 0-6 in district play.

Lyford improved to 14-1 in District 31-3A with a sweep of IDEA College Prep on Friday. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 18 in Class 3A by the TGCA.

Also Saturday, in District 32-2A/1A San Perlita defeated Bruni 25-5, 25-7, 25-12. San Perlita is 8-1 in district, behind only No. 9 San Isidro. Santa Maria and Lasara were scheduled to face off at 3 p.m.

In TAPPS 5A District 6, Brownsville St. Joseph (3-2) lost 25-13, 25-19, 19-25, 25-7 to Laredo St. Augustine.