By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
Port Isabel held its annual “Volley At The Beach” volleyball tournament at the PIEC High School on Friday, Aug. 11. The Lady Tarpons started day one of the two-day tourney with pool play. The pool play results were then used for seeding purposes for bracket play which was held on Saturday.
The Lady Tarpons got off to a rough start on day one as they lost to Santa Maria (26-24, 25-17) and IDEA Pharr (25-21, 24-14) in pool play.
Saturday’s bracket play action saw PI’s varsity squad take on the Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats. With Rio Hondo holding a 7-3 lead, PI’s Valery Gonzalez got a massive spike at the net to give PI the ball. PI managed to pick up another point on Kimberly Barrera’s serve, but Rio Hondo soon got the ball back to make it 8-5.
The Lady Tarpons struggled returning the ball as the Lady Bobcats extended their lead to 15-8. After getting the ball back, PI went on a little run under the serving of Nadia Flaig. The Lady Tarpons cut Rio Hondo’s lead down to three points (15-12), which forced Rio Hondo to call a timeout.
After the break, the Lady Bobcats went on a run of their own as they extended their lead to 20-13. As the game went on, Port Isabel managed to score a couple of more points, but ultimately lost the first set 25-16.
As the second set got underway, each team had their moments as they traded points. After a long rally, PI’s Flaig had a powerful spike for the score to tie the match up at 5-5. The teams went on to trade points. With PI’s Emily Burrage serving the ball, PI went on a six-point run to give them a 12-6 lead. Flaig contributed three more spike kills during that span.
Rio Hondo clawed their way back, but PI still led 14-13. PI started to have a tough time with the returns as the Lady Bobcats took a 19-16 lead, forcing PI to call a timeout. In the closing minutes of the set, Flaig and Burrage jumped up at the net to repel the incoming attack as PI tied the match up at 22-22. PI’s Skyla Fernandez, who had been instrumental setting up the hitters, was next up to serve. She got PI to game point at 24-22, before the ball was turned over. The teams went on a rally as Flaig put on a soft touch on the ball that the Lady Bobcats were unable to reach. The Lady Tarpons won the second set 25-23.
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