GONZALES APACHES

Lady Apaches sweep SA Brooks in much-needed district win

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GONZALES — In a game that lasted a little over an hour, the Gonzales Lady Apaches got back on the winning side, sweeping the San Antonio Brooks Academy Bengals (25-4, 25-5, 25-10). The win moves keeps Gonzales (2-4) in fifth place District 30-4A, one game back from their rivals the Cuero Lady Gobblers (3-3).

“We really needed it tonight going into the second round because this is the last game of the first round,” Gonzales head coach Brittney Orunonyehu said. “We’re going to need it for La Vernia because we have next Tuesday off. A game like this really was a big role in helping us continue our momentum to go even harder in the second round.”

The Lady Apaches dominated at the net Friday, staying aggressive and swinging for kills instead of opting for tips or other trickery.

“They communicated very well,” Orunonyehu noted. “They were aggressive on the net tonight, they blocked everything. They swung at every ball. That’s all I asked for tonight, have fun, be aggressive and keep the energy level up and they performed.”

Gonzales allowed back-to-back points just once in the first set and another time in the second set. The third set, the Lady Bengals fought back late, even scoring on a late ace, before the Lady Apaches shut it down with a kill by Hayley Sample to end the game.

After a tough first half of district, the team is still optimistic about their playoff chances.

“Right now we have the physicality,” Orunonyehu said. “The girls are there. It’s just mentality, it’s changing the culture around here. I think we’re doing that, little by little each day. When we finally believe it, that’s when we’re going to make the run. I strongly believe it’s going to happen in the second round.”

With close losses to Cuero and Pleasanton, the Lady Apaches have a shot at turning things around in the second half. Their first test, however, is a game against the state-ranked La Vernia Lady Bears (6-0) next Friday. The team is hoping to stay consistent with their play in order to turn those close losses into wins.

“It’s not that we’re not performing,” the first-year head coach explained, “we need to minimize the errors — the small errors that we’re making — we need to stay consistent from Game 1 all the way to Game 5, if we have to go that far.”

On Tuesday, the Lady Apaches have a bye. Friday night, they host La Vernia for a 6 p.m. game.

District 30-4A volleyball
  W L %
La Vernia 6 0 1.000
Geronimo Navarro 5 1 0.833
Pleasanton 4 2 0.667
Cuero 3 3 0.500
Gonzales 2 4 0.333
Poteet 1 5 0.167
SA Brooks Academy 0 6 0.000

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