BROWNSVILLE — This season’s first key showdown for first place in District 32-6A volleyball takes place at 6:30 tonight as the Brownsville Rivera Lady Raiders play host to the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons.
Both teams enter the match with 5-0 records.
District 32-6A completes its first round of conference action later this week.
Tonight’s winner still will be far removed from any claims to the district title, which was won last year by Los Fresnos with a 14-0 record. But gaining sole possession of first place in a district that so far has been quite competitive would be a definite boost for tonight’s winner.
“I think we’re pretty evenly matched, at least that’s the way it looks,” Rivera coach Elizabeth Avelar-Guerra said. “It’ll be a fight both ways and the winner will have an advantage with some momentum going into the second round (of district next week).
“Our girls have come together and they’re playing united,” Avelar-Guerra added. “Our defense has improved and we’ve just been playing well (overall). It should be a good one (against Los Fresnos).”
Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods sees tonight’s matchup in much the same way with the team playing its best coming away victorious.
“It’s going to be whoever shows up (to play well) on that particular night,” she said. “Either team can win. Whoever wants it most will be the one who comes away with the win.
“We are ready for the showdown,” Woods added. “We played very well against Harlingen on Saturday (to improve to 5-0). Physically, we are very ready. It’s the mental game that has to come through for us.
“Our girls are hungry for that (school-record) fifth straight district title. If we can keep that motivation and be confident in our mental attitude going into the match, we will be fine. The bottom line is we just need to play our game.”
Los Fresnos won at home against Harlingen 25-8, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20 on Saturday. The same day, Rivera improved to 5-0 by triumphing at Weslaco East 25-18, 25-20, 25-13.
The first round of district concludes at noon Saturday as Los Fresnos visits Weslaco and Rivera plays at Harlingen South.
A year ago, the Lady Falcons were repeat district champions, while the Lady Raiders were 32-6A’s runner-up team. The other two teams advancing to the playoffs from 32-6A last season were Brownsville Hanna and San Benito.
