San Perlita looking to make some noise

While some of the Rio Grande Valley schools in the higher classes have made strong runs in the playoffs, in recent years deep South Texas Class 1A schools have not had much success.

District 32-1A champ San Perlita (20-5) is hoping to reverse that trend beginning at 7 p.m. today when it takes on Granado in the area round at Tuloso-Midway.

San Perlita received a bye in bi-district for winning the league championship.

"I'm optimistic," Lady Trojans coach Cathey Steadman said. "I went up there yesterday to scout and take some stats on them. I took a look at their offense and defense. I think our serving is stronger."

One of the Lady Trojans' strong points this season has been its serve, whether it is power or finesse serving.

"You can talk to anyone in our district and they will tell you we are known for our serving," said Steadman, who led San Perlita to its first district title since 2001.

Steadman added she can rely on the service game of her four seniors - Kady De Luna, Alexandra Orozco, Mercedes Salazar and Kayla Salazar.

"With the senior leadership we have this year, I am hoping we have a little more confidence going in," Steadman said.

Another Run?

Mission High is hoping to repeat its surprising run in the playoffs last season. Mission High takes on Corpus Christi Moody at 12 p.m. Saturday in Falfurrias in the Class 4A area round.

On Tuesday, Mission High defeated Laredo Cigarroa 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 25-13 to advance. Last season, the Lady Eagles advanced three-round deeps in one of the more surprising postseason runs by a Rio Grande Valley squad.

"We've got some experience with some seniors," Lady Eagles coach Lety Ibarra said. "It is just a matter of getting it together. It has been a long season. There have been some ups and downs, but that's the beauty of the sport. It is just so unpredictable."

Bad Night

Tuesday turned out to be a not-so-great night for Valley teams competing in bi-district. Local teams competing against teams out of the Valley combined for a 4-7 record. Two of the losses came from McAllen Rowe and McAllen Memorial, two of the top teams in deep South Texas all season.

As a result, there is only one all-valley match in area round and that is Edinburg High at McAllen High at 7 tonight.

Oddity

Because there is no District 30-3A, Hidalgo, District 32-3A's champion, knew its area round opponent before bi-district concluded.

Hondo, District 29-3A's runner-up, bypassed bi-district straight to area round.

The teams play at 7:30 tonight in Alice.

Peter Rasmussen covers high school volleyball for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.