This year, the Lady Lobos of Palmview High School excelled in their volleyball, basketball, and softball programs and reached heights that had never been reached before. All three programs made school history this year by winning district championships for the first time ever.
Photo Courtesy LJISD PR department.
Lady Lobos Volleyball
It started with the volleyball team, led by head coach Margo Iglesias-Cantu. In 2020, Iglesias-Cantu led the Lady Lobos to their very first playoff appearance in school history. From there on out, the goal was clear: Keep up this winning tradition.
This season, the Lobos reached another milestone and made history for Palmview High School. The Lobos had an overall record of 26-16 and finished with a first place district record of 13-1. This crowned them the district champions for the first time in school history.
Iglesias-Cantu told Progress Times, “With the girls that we had, I knew we could do it. Our goal was to win a district title.” Iglesias-Cantu then filled us in on something that she’s been doing with her teams: Placing pictures of every school they play against up on a board and for every win against them, she allows her players to rip that picture down. She told us, “When we finally ripped off the last one it was special.”
Palmview Lobos’ Jeslynn Flores spikes the ball during last Tuesday’s win against Juarez Lincoln Huskies. Progress Times photo by Joe Vela.
One of the most important things that Iglesias-Cantu did with her group of girls was preaching confidence in their ability on and off the court. She continued by telling us, “When I got there, I wanted other schools to be intimidated when we walked onto the court. It’s that winning mentality that we’ve been able to instill in them that they can compete with the best of the best.” This season, the Lady Lobos volleyball team proved that they can compete just as good and even better with the elite teams in the Rio Grande Valley.
This Lady Lobos volleyball team was fronted by a strong group of seniors: Alexia Arevalo, Arianna Alaniz, Erika Tijerina, and Jeslynn Flores. Coach told us what she told this group when they were freshman, “I told that freshman group that they were going to make a difference and they’ll be the ones that changed the Lady Lobos volleyball program around and they definitely did that.”
Though this group of seniors will be graduating, the Lady Lobos will be coming back stronger than ever. The seniors set the bar high for the underclassmen that played with them this past season. Players like Miley Zieske, Evoria Garcia, Isabella Gauna, Kylie Cantu, Jessica Arevalo, Yannelli Castaneda, Camila Hinostrosa, Jaylen Rosales, and Khalia Trevino contributed to the success this year and they will be continuing that legacy under the leadership of Iglesias-Cantu next year.
We asked Iglesias-Cantu about the importance of recognizing the achievements of the Lady Lobos this season, “One thing about me: Every sport that my kids do, I follow them and cheer for them. I really push them to be multi-sport athletes. I think being a multi-sport athlete makes them better. I’m always highlighting them. Before we didn’t have a lot of media coverage but now that we’ve started to win, we started to get that. I want them to be highlighted because they’re the ones who put in the hard work.”
She went on to say, “I push them in athletics and academics. I had a couple of girls make a push for the National Honor Society. I told them: Education and school are first. I try to follow them in everything they do so they know I’m there for them, not just during volleyball season. I work hard for them because I love them so much and I want them to know that and in return, they work hard for me.”
One thing that Iglesias-Cantu wanted to make very clear, “I don’t care if you recognize me as a coach. Recognize these girls. They work so hard and put so much time and effort into what I tell them to do and it’s amazing that it’s paying off. It’s a blessing and I thank God everyday”
We asked Iglesias-Cantu about what it was like to achieve a historic feat along with the Lady Lobos basketball and softball programs, “It’s amazing that we’ve been able to do it together this year. Anisa [Reyna], Jessica [Cardenas-Russell], and I are going to keep doing it for years to come.” She went on to say, “Jessica shares the same passion and ambition. We work hand in hand together. We’ve supported each other every step of the way. Anisa instills the same leadership and mentality into her girls as I do. We’ve all started something and we want to continue it and instill that greatness in all the programs so we can continue to be successful for years to come.”
Lady Lobos Basketball
The basketball season for the Lady Lobos started following the end of the volleyball season. This time, Lobos’ head volleyball coach Anisa Reyna was looking to carve a place in the history books for her team, but especially for her group of seniors.
The Lady Lobos played a strong defensive game vs the Lady Huskies during their match up on January 30th. The Lady Lobos only allowed their opponent’s to put a total of 13 points on the board, taking the win over the Lady Huskies 87 to 13. Photo by Mario Magallon
The Lady Lobos basketball program was slowly climbing the ranks after a couple of seasons of consecutive playoff appearances, but that’s not where the story starts. This story starts four years before they won their very first district championship. A group of freshmen started with Coach Reyna: Destinee Garza, Gabriela Garza, Hailey Cantu, and Jocelyn Rojas. This group of freshmen played through the COVID season and in that season, they did not win any games. There was no way to go but up from there.
Reyna told Progress Times, “We made sure we were committed and dedicated. Some things we stressed on were the skills, IQ, speed, and the overall level of play.” In their sophomore season, the team went 6-4 and finished in third place in their district. During their junior season, this group led their team to a 8-6 record and their second consecutive playoff appearance.
This takes us to this past season. The group that was once freshmen were now seniors and they had one goal in mind: Win a championship. Reyna told us, “It was extremely important to send this group out and cement their legacy here at Palmview. We’ve been through so much. At the beginning of the season I asked them: What is your legacy? I told them that they were going to leave their mark here because I know how far they’ve come and I know the potential is there. We’re going to get it done.”
Reyna told us that she began beefing up their non-district schedule to get ready for the upcoming district season. She told us that it really came together when they competed in a tournament in Corpus-Christi. They faced a number of teams who were ranked in the state of Texas. They played against the Alvin Yellow Jackets, Killeen Kangaroos, Stephenville Yellow Jackets, Calallen Wildcats, and the Alamo Heights Mules. All of these teams were seen as the favorites against the Lady Lobos, but that did not turn out to be the case. The Lobos won every matchup against these teams and swept the Corpus Christi tournament. The confidence in the Lady Lobos skyrocketed after that and the girls told Reyna, “Coach we’re going to win the district.”
From there the Lobos went into district play and dominated. They finished with a first place record of 13-1 and made history as the first team in the program’s history to win a district championship. Reyna told us, “We wanted people to see Palmview as a competitor, a contender, and hopefully a champion…and that’s what we did this year.”
This team was fronted by their group of seniors who began to pave a way for future Lady Lobos to come. Destinee Garza, Gabriela Garza, Hailey Cantu, and Jocelyn Rojas all contributed to the success of the Lobos this season. They set the bar high for the players who competed this year that will be with the Lobos next year: Nicole Flores, Mia Rojas, Miley Zieske, Alia Garza, Maryn Miller, and Sophia Beneitez. For them, the goal is to continue the winning tradition.
Coach Reyna told us about the importance of continuing this winning tradition and how it allows for women to continue working towards their goals, “It’s extremely important. The level of women’s sports is rising. It gives these girls the confidence and the dream that they can do what they want to in life. The opportunities are there.” She went on to say, “It brings me comfort and acknowledgement to know that we’re pushing these young girls at the high school level to dream. It is possible. Not to give up and keep moving forward. They have this mindset now that they know they have to keep going. That’s what I want these girls to understand: Everything and anything is possible, as long as you’re willing to put in the work, the mindset, the heart, blood, sweat, and tears. It’s there for them.”
Reyna continued, “I’m super humbled because I know what it’s like to be at the bottom and having to work your way back up. It’s not about the people that don’t believe in you, it’s about the people that believe in you and the people you bring along in the journey. They’ve been with me every step of the way.”
Her coaching staff and the coaches outside of the program such as Iglesias-Cantu and Russell-Cardenas were some of the people that believed that the Lady Lobos basketball could get it done. Reyna spoke highly of their support, “We needed to push each other as much as possible as coaches for each other and the girls. We want to push the Lobos legacy as far as possible. They’ve set the tone in their programs and now the possibilities are endless. Their success is my success, my success is their success. We all wear Palmview on our chest. That’s the most important thing. We do this for Palmview and the kids that make it up.”
Lady Lobos Softball
The softball season for the Lady Lobos started following the end of the basketball season. The Lady Lobos softball team used the momentum and confidence from the achievements the volleyball and basketball programs accomplished to push them to make history for their program.
The Lobos had started making noise four years prior. Once freshman, Arianna Alaniz and Destinee Garza, were a part of the team that started shifting the culture for the softball program as they helped the Lobos make their first playoff appearance. The Lobos found themselves in the playoffs for the next three years. Now in their senior season, Alaniz and Garza were put to the task to accomplish something that they had never been able to do. Lobos head softball coach Jessica Cardenas-Russell told us more about that, “We wanted a firm foundation to start this. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of seniors to start this tradition. They were the first ones that got us into the playoffs for the first time.”
The goal for their senior year was to make history and win the school’s first ever district championship. The Lady Lobos started off the season playing in tournaments to get ready for the district season. They dominated in those tournaments and from there it was all systems go.
The Lady Lobos celebrate their win over the Lady D-Backs taking game three with a score of 9-0 in 7 innings. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
The Lobos finished up the season with a first place 13-1 record and accomplished their goal of winning a district championship. Coach Russell-Cardenas told us, “For them to leave their senior year with what they’ve achieved was a blessing. If anyone deserves it, it’s them. They put in a lot of time, in and out of the season, to be able to get the team to where we got them.”
It didn’t end there. The Lady Lobos put together a season that will forever be remembered. They continued to dominate in the playoffs as they won a Bi-district championship against the Gregory-Portland Wildcats and an area championship against the Pioneer Diamondbacks. In four years, Alaniz, Garza, and Coach Russell-Cardenas went from making the playoffs for the first time to winning three championships.
The Lobos were fronted by seniors Arianna Alaniz, Destinee Garza, Ximena Alanis, and Aalysa Longoria. Once again these girls set the bar high for the girls that will be coming back next year and for the ones who will join them on the varsity squad next year. Players such as Eissa Flores, Evoria Garcia, Sydney Salinas, Monika Gonzalez, Jaylen Rosales, Gabby Garza, Alynna Gonzalez, Yailyn Trevino, Kendrah Estrada, and Marina Rodriguez will continue their Lady Lobos’ legacy.
Russell-Cardenas told us, “Our main responsibilities as coaches are to put the kids where they need to be, to show them the support, and to show them that we believe in them to be able to accomplish this.” She went on to say, ““I think women’s sports are finally starting to get the recognition they deserve. All of our females have put in that time just as much as their male counterparts do. It feels good to know that all their hard work behind the scenes is finally paying off to where people are seeing what they can accomplish. It just took that jumpstart to get us going in the beginning of the year in volleyball and that transitioned over to basketball and then to softball. All our girls work extremely hard to accomplish what they did.”
Cardenas-Russell finished off by talking about Iglesias-Cantu and Reyna and how they’ve been able to contribute to the main goal, “I was fortunate enough to work with both and to coach alongside the two. One thing that we all share is the unwavering amount of passion for what we’re doing. We all will fight as much as we have to for our programs. We want the athletes to see the passion we have for the sport and what we do for them. Their success motivated us to do our thing. I got to see Margo do her thing, I got to see Anisa do her thing, and we supported each other. They even kept me motivated. They would tell me: Just keep going. It’s going to be worth it. That relationship has helped so much with the amount of encouragement that we had for each other and it showed. It was a great year for our Lady Lobos. I’m so glad that we’ve been able to build that winning culture. There’s no going back now.”
The greatness that these coaches embody is not a coincidence. Coach Iglesias-Cantu mentioned that she pushes her girls to be multi-sport athletes. She believes that great things come from that. This comes as no surprise as Iglesias-Cantu was once a multi-sport athlete who excelled on the basketball court and even played basketball at the collegiate level. As a student-athlete Reyna excelled on the basketball court as well which is where her success stems from. As a student-athlete Russell-Cardenas was a workhorse. She would put work on and off the court to achieve greatness because she did not want to lose.
Progress Times got the chance to speak to Mission CISD Athletic Director Letty Ibarra, who once coached these three, “All three of them were exceptional student-athletes. They’re all very well-rounded young ladies. It’s very admirable that they’re all there at Palmview High School and they’ve excelled this year. We wish nothing but the best. We want to see them succeed and they have. We’ve been very blessed to have the opportunity to see these young ladies go through our program and now they’re excelling. It’s amazing to say the least.”
Ibarra went on to say, “It’s their hard work and dedication finally paying off. They’ve been able to come together to make it happen. It takes a lot. They just needed that support and they made it happen. The sky’s the limit. They’ve established a tradition and God willing, it continues.” 
Lobos girls track and field head coach Claudia Bazan told Progress Times, “Amazing accomplishments by our volleyball, basketball, and softball teams. The success of the overall girls program at Palmview High School is remarkable and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our coaching staff and student-athletes. Cultivating that winning mentality has made an impact on the athletic program and student body and will, without a doubt, help us replicate the success we had this season.”
What the Lady Lobos did this year was not a coincidence either. This was years of hard work and dedication finally paying off. All three of these coaches have put in countless hours to perfecting their craft and preparing their girls for greatness. They’ve motivated, instilled confidence and drove a winning mentality into these girls that will go unmatched. Their efforts built up these athletes to believe in themselves and to strive for greatness. These three coaches are an amazing example of why women’s sports is amazing and why there should be more recognition for their athletes and for themselves. Progress Times would like to commend Margo Iglesias-Cantu, Anisa Reyna, and Jessica Russell-Cardenas for everything they’ve done for their programs and for the girls that make up their programs, as well as for the City of Palmview and Palmview High School.