The St. Joseph Academy volleyball team has a clear-cut goal in mind for this weekend.
The Lady Bloodhounds would like to win their own tournament.
It’s the second year for the varsity event played at two gyms on the SJA campus. The two-day, 12-team tournament begins at 2 p.m. today.
The Lady Bloodhounds weren’t able to win the tournament last year. Instead, Jubilee Brownsville captured the championship by defeating Santa Maria 25-23, 25-17 in the title match.
SJA coach Dolores Olguin-Trevino said there again will be some good teams playing in the tournament this year.
“Overall, I think the teams will be pretty evenly matched,” Olguin-Trevino said. “It’ll come down to errors, I believe. We’ve played Santa Rosa and San Isidro, and they’re pretty good. Actually, I haven’t seen quite a few of the other teams that are coming.”
Besides SJA, Santa Rosa and San Isidro, the other teams playing in the tournament are Jubilee, Pace, Santa Maria, Port Isabel, San Perlita, Weslaco IDEA Pike, Edinburg IDEA Quest, Lyford and La Villa.
“I know Pace is pretty tough because Coach (Pamela) McCumber has a
strong,” Olguin-Trevino said. “Jubilee should be pretty good again this year.
“Obviously, we will try to make a run for the championship,” the SJA coach added. “It’ll be a matter of passing and communication. If our girls play consistently and eliminate unforced errors, we should be OK.”
Jubilee is coming off last weekend’s championship at the Hebbronville Tournament. Jubileee’s Valentina Tijerina was named the tournament MVP and teammates Alexis Robinson and Julissa Garza were chosen to the all-tournament team.
Pace is coming off Tuesday’s 25-23, 25-18, 25-15 non-district victory against Port Isabel.
The two gyms being used for the tournament are Court 1 (next door to SJA’s domed basketball gym) and Court 2 (in SJA’s middle school building on the south end of the campus beyond the football field).
Today’s 2 p.m. tournament openers have Jubilee vs. San Isidro on Court 1 and Pace vs. Santa Maria on Court 2. At 3:15 p.m., it’s Port Isabel vs. San Perlita on Court 1 and SJA vs. Santa Rosa on Court 2.
The Jubilee-San Isidro winner plays Weslaco IDEA Pike at 4:30 p.m. today on Court 1 and the Pace-Santa Maria winner plays Edinburg IDEA Quest at 4:30 p.m. on Court 2. The Port Isabel-San Perlita winner plays Lyford at 5:45 p.m. on Court 1 and the SJA-Santa Rosa winner takes on La Villa at 5:45 p.m. on Court 2.
The championship match is scheduled at 7:45 p.m. Saturday on Court 1.
