By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Lady Greyhounds and the Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats varsity volleyball teams faced off on the first day of play at Brownsville ISD’s “On the Border by the Sea” Volleyball Tournament.
The four-day tourney culminates in a championship match on Saturday, but not before pool play on the first couple of days.
On day one, the Lady ‘Hounds and the Lady ’Cats were placed in Pool D, along with the Hidalgo Lady Pirates and the home team, the Pace Lady Vikings.
On Friday, SBHS will host all its Pool B matches at Rivera High School. The Lady ‘Hounds are in the same pool as Skidmore-Tynan, IDEA Riverview, and the Rivera Lady Raiders.
San Benito is battling Rivera at 12 p.m., then Riverview at 2 p.m., and quickly following it up with the Skidmore-Tynan Lady ’Cats.
On Friday, RHHS is in Pool E at Brownsville Hanna High School, facing much larger opponents in terms of enrollment, including the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons, Brownsville Hanna Lady Eagles, and the Laredo Johnson Lady Wolves.
All the Lady ’Cats matches are being played at noon (vs. Hanna), 2 p.m. (vs. LBJ), and 3 p.m. (vs. Los Fresnos).
There are 20 schools competing, including SBHS’s District 32-6A foes Harlingen and Veterans Memorial. RHHS has District 32-3A foes Lyford, Riverview, and IDEA Frontier in the tournament.
EARLY SBHS STATISTICAL LEADERS
The Lady ‘Hounds began their season with a tri-match at Rowe High School in McAllen. Pace was also invited to participate.
The following are stats from the tri-match the Lady ‘Hounds lost.
SBHS vs Pace
Valeria Enriquez 1 kill, 1 ace; Annalise Rodriguez 3 kills, 1 ace; Kalista Olivares 9 kills, 1 block; Madelynn Mendoza 8 kills;
Liennai Allen 6 kills; Camila Guajardo 17 digs; Isabella Gonzalez 8 digs, 1 ace; Analie Mosqueda 1 kill.
SBHS vs Rowe
Valeria Enriquez 1 kill; Annalise Rodriguez 3 kills, 1 ace; Kalista Olivares 4 kills; Madelynn Mendoza 4 kills, 1 ace; Liennai Allen 1 kill; Camila Guajardo 8 digs; Isabella Gonzalez 6 digs.
The Lady ‘Hounds followed that up by entering the Donna Tournament.
They beat the Edcouch-Elsa Lady Jackets (25-16, 25-20), Laredo Cigarroa Lady Torros (25-20, 25-23), and IDEA Quest College Prep (25-15, 25-12).
SBHS’s varsity volleyball team consists of 10 athletes. They are seniors Liennai Allen, Valeria Enriquez, Allisson Mireles, Phoebe Crissman, Yadhira Hernandez, and Jerali Maldonado; juniors Kalista Olivares, Isabella Gonzalez, Camila Guajardo, Annalise Rodriguez, and Lori Martinez; sophomores Victoria Villalpando, Analie Mosqueda, Miley Rodriguez, and Madelyn Quiroz; and freshman Madelynn Mendoza.