First place on the line as Big 7 teams go head-to-head
Lady Rattlers vs Lady Diamondbacks
Tuesday night, Sharyland High School hosted a 31-5A matchup between the 3-1 Sharyland Rattlers and the 4-1 Pioneer Diamondbacks. This game was not for the weak. These two teams were at it with each other all game.
The Rattlers got off to a quick start on the backs of Kenisha Martinez, Kassandra De la Garza, and Pamela Pena. These girls have been leading the Rattlers to success all season. The Diamondbacks tried to make a comeback in the first set, but De la Garza and the rest of the Rattlers continued to aggressively set up Martinez and Pena for a score. Pena would put the first set away (25-17) with two back-to-back kills. 1-0 Rattlers.
Pena continued to show how dominant she is on the court with back-to-back-to-back kills, but not before the Diamondbacks got out to an early lead in the second set. Elle Hill, Izabella Cano, and Danica Gonzalez were massive for the Diamondbacks in this set. These girls set up the Diamondbacks defensively and shut down an explosive Rattlers offense. The trio of Martinez, De la Garza, and Pena ultimately were able to tie the game up at 16 a piece before the Diamondbacks could take the set, but Hill, Cano and Gonzalez kept their team afloat as they put the second set away (18-25.) This tied the teams up 1-1.
The Diamondbacks come out hot in the third set after winning the second set. The defense of the Diamondbacks was overpowering the Rattlers’ offensive ability up to this point. Diamondbacks’ Hill, Cano, and Gonzalez along with Hailey Botello, Scarlet Verjel, and Florencia Curiel kept the pressure on the Rattlers throughout this set. It wouldn’t be until the Rattlers’ Martinez delivered four consecutive kills that would tie the game around the midway point of the set that the Rattlers would go on a run themselves. The Rattlers exploded offensively and soon they were at match point. Who else but Pena to put this set away (25-22) and give the Rattlers a 2-1 lead over the Diamondbacks?
With a win at the Rattlers’ fingertips, the Diamondbacks were determined to force this game into five sets. Both teams were throwing haymakers at each other but neither of them fell. When one team scored, the other would follow up with a score of their own. With the score tied about halfway through the set, the Rattlers went on a run. The trio of Martinez, De la Garza, and Pena were looking unstoppable as they extended the lead to 16-11. The Diamondbacks started cleaning up their mistakes which allowed them to get into striking distance. A score of 16-11 quickly went to 23-20 and after a timeout, the Diamondbacks tied the game back up at 23-23. The Rattlers scored and the Diamondbacks answered right back to set this game up with a score of 24-24. A last ditch effort to send this game into five sets was stripped away by the Rattlers’ Martinez whose back-to-back kills broke the tie at 24 and won the game for the home team by a score of 26-24 in the fourth. 3-1 Rattlers win.
The Rattlers’ Kenisha Martinez finished the game with 22 kills, two assists, and two blocks; Kassandra De la Garza with eight kills, 37 assists and one ace’ and Pamela Pena with 19 kills and two aces.
The Diamondbacks’ Elizabeth Cano finished with 21 digs, nine kills, two aces and five blocks; Hailey Botello with 18 digs, 18 assists and five blocks; and Danica Gonzalez with ten digs, seven kills and five blocks.
With the win, the Rattlers improved to 4-1 on the season and are now sole owners of the second spot in District 31-5A. The Diamondbacks drop to 4-2 on the season, but still hold a position as a top four team in the district.
After the game Progress Times spoke to Kassandra De la Garza after her monster 37 assist game, “This was a make or break on whether or not we’d be able to get first in the district, so I’m glad that we were able to win this game. We want to get first in district so we plan on trying to play our best every single game.” She went on to talk about her teammates in this game, “Shout out to Kenisha, she’s always keeping me stable. Shout out Pam, she is one of the calmest people on the court. They’re both my rock.”
Rattlers head coach Lydia De Leon spoke to us about what she told her girls going into the final set, “Play aggressive. That’s what pulled us away for most of the game. Kudos to Pioneer for playing a great game. They did a wonderful job hitting off the net, but we just had to play our game, we had to continue to play aggressively, and we had to continue to put the ball down.”
De Leon went on to say, “We’re keeping our head on a swivel. We’re working and improving on something every single day. What makes this team special is the energy they bring. Even when you think they’re rattled, they’re not. They come out and play whether they’re up a set or down a set.”
Lady Patriots vs Lady Lobos
On the same night, the 5-0 Veterans Memorial Lady Patriots and the 4-0 Palmview Lady Lobos faced off against each other in a District 30-5A matchup at Veterans Memorial High School. This game had a playoff atmosphere and whether it was the athletes on the court or the students in the crowd, it was intense.
“We want varsity. We want A-Team”
This chant rang throughout the game. Though, it is to mock the opposing team, both of these fan bases got to witness a true display of what varsity volleyball is at these schools.
The first set saw these two teams hold each other close. Every point that was scored would be answered by the other team. If one team made a run, the other team would do the same. It wasn’t until a Patriots match point (24-20) where they would get separation from the Lobos. The Lobos closed in and nearly caught up to the Patriots but were unable to close out the first set before it got too close (25-22) and took a 1-0 lead in the game.
“You can’t do that”
The fans were sure that they knew exactly what the opposing team couldn’t do on the court. Whether they were correct or not, one thing that the Lobos couldn’t do was close the lead the Patriots had on them in the second set. The Lobos took their second timeout of the set as the Patriots went up (15-8.) The Lobos looked to climb back at this point but the closest they got was 23-17, and the Patriots were only two points away from winning the set. The Patriots closed that set out (25-17) and took a 2-0 lead in the game.
“Beat the traffic”
The fans of the Patriots chanted at the Lobos. The Patriots were looking to close this game out in three sets. The Patriots and the Lobos went back and forth in this set. The Lobos went down early in the game just to come back and take the (8-13) lead over the Patriots. The Patriots were able to tie it up at 14 a piece, then 17 a piece, then took the lead (20-18.) They would go on to score five unanswered points to get the game to match point. One last effort from the Lobos would end up falling through as the Patriots closed out the set (25-19) and the game 3-0.
A year ago, the eventual district champions Lobos swept their season series with the Patriots, but this powerful Patriots team made sure that they wouldn’t repeat that this year.
The Patriots remain undefeated with a 6-0 record and now take sole possession of first place in District 30-5A. The Lobos have fallen to 2nd place in the district with a 4-1 record.
The Patriots’ Mady Perez finished with a team high of 17 kills and three blocks. Heather Cantu finished with 38 assists. Evoria Garcia with 34 digs; Delilah Cantu with 12 kills; and Sophia Pacheco with 11 kills.
The Lobos’ Miley Zieske finished with 12 kills and 22 digs; Kylie Cantu with five kills and three blocks; Jessica Arevalo with 23 digs and three assists; Arizona Gauna with three kills and 13 digs; and Valeria Gauna with nine digs and nine assists.
Patriots head coach Diana Lerma talked to Progress Times about the atmosphere during Tuesday night’s game, “It’s like a playoff game so it’s going to get us used to not focusing on what’s around us but focusing on what we can do to put points together.” Lerma then went on to talk about the competitiveness of both the Lady Patriot and the Lady Lobos, “That’s why we were both undefeated… but I’ve been telling the girls: ‘Once you break away, at least you have some cushion.’”
Lerma chimed in on some of the things she liked from the Patriots on Tuesday’s win, “Getting serves over, making sure everybody does their part, I think that’s what we did well. We played unified.”
The Patriots want to bring the district championship back home this season. Lerma spoke about the Lobos breaking the Patriots streak of ten consecutive district championships last season, “It just so happens that the ones that took the district title away from me are my ex-volleyball players so they bragged and bragged. It’s like I said: ‘You took it away, but now it belongs to us.’”
After an impressive performance from freshman Mady Perez, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the State of Texas in hit percentage, Coach Lerma told us, “She understands the point system. Whether the set is not good, she makes a play out of it. She’s a playmaker.”
Coach Lerma capped it off by letting us know that she’s ready for another round against the Lobos, “As you can tell, they brought the crowd, they brought the cheerleaders, and they were trying to make our hometown their home. We gotta do the same when we go over there.”
Other notable games from Tuesday:
Mission Eagles 3-0 win over the Roma Gladiators
Juarez Lincoln-Huskies 0-3 loss to Rio Grande City Rattlers
La Joya Coyotes 0-3 loss to Hanna Golden Eagles
This concludes this week in Big 7 Volleyball. Progress Times wishes the best of luck to every team playing tomorrow and upcoming Tuesday.