By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Lady Greyhounds are a couple of weeks into District 32-6A volleyball action and still have plenty of time to recover from their 0-2 start.
Nothing like a home-style Lady ‘Hounds win to get back on track after they defeated the PSJA North Lady Raiders by a 3-1 margin in their gymnasium on Tuesday.
They earned it with scores of 17-25, 17-25, 25-22, and 25-11.
The victory improved SB’s district record to 2-1, and dropped North’s to 1-2.
Heading into this matchup, the Lady ’Hounds were tied for the bottom of the district with the PSJA North and the PSJA Lady Bears at 0-2.
Junior Kalista Olivares said some of the PSJA ISD athletes have played club ball with her so she’s familiar with some of them.
“They’re very smart players who bring a lot to the court individually; honestly, though, I think it can go either way in our district once we all get going,” Olivares said earlier in the season. “We’re all very good teams, and we each bring something to the court. So I still like our chances against them.”
SBHS Head Coach Ruby Medina and Assistant Cynthia Wareham certainly got the team back on track with a district win.
The Lady ’Hounds had come into their third game after losing to the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers (3-0) and the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons (3-1), but they kept the matches competitive against teams that will likely be vying for a district title with the Harlingen Lady Cardinals. All of them were 2-0 coming into the week.
Against Veterans, SB lost by 25-15, 25-12, 25-14 away, while Los Fresnos prevailed on the road, 18-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-22.
It’s part of the season they knew would be challenging, which is why coaches scheduled a slew of non-district competition for more than a month.
“The (non-district) schedule was tough, and playing some good teams will help us through district,” Annalise Rodriguez said. “I like the team the coach has assembled, and we do have what it takes to put up a good fight in this district. It’s going to be challenging, but we’re up for it.”
The Lady ’Hounds ended the non-district portion of the season with a 14-12 record. They finished strong against a trio of Edinburg ISD teams, including Economedes (won 3-0), Edinburg North (won 3-0), and Edinburg High (lost 3-1).
They are now 15-14 on the year after their win over North.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
With a bevy of games under their belts, several players lead the team in volleyball categories.
The following are stats from SBHS’s third district game against PSJA North: In the attacking category, three players have triple-digit kills, including Olivares and Rodriguez. Juniors Olivares (158) and Rodriguez (136) lead the team in kills, alongside freshman Madelynn Mendoza. Rodriguez also leads in kill attempts with 480.
In serving, Rodriguez also leads in points with 133, followed by junior Isabella Gonzalez (108) and Valeria Enriquez (105).
Olivares has 13 blocks.
Five Lady ‘Hounds have at least 100 digs each, with Rodriguez, the team leader, at 297. Others trailing in team digs are junior Camila Guajardo (230), Enriquez (186), Mendoza (152), and Gonzalez (115). Rodriguez averages 11 digs per match.
Setter Enriquez continues to lead SBHS in assists with 437.
Finally, the serve-receiving leaders are Guajardo (295) and Rodriguez (250).
In addition to their Tuesday games, the Lady ‘Hounds schedule Saturday matchups. They host Harlingen on Oct. 3 at 1 p.m., then play at Veterans Memorial on Oct. 10 at noon, followed by an 11:30 a.m. game at North, and their district finale against PSJA on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.