Volleyball: Wildcats claw Tigers
BRAWLEY — The Brawley Wildcats volleyball team hosted the Imperial Tigers for the final league matchup of the season on Tuesday, with the Wildcats overcoming the Tigers 3-1 (15-25, 25-23, 17-25, 16-25).
Leading the Wildcats roster was Breauna Rebollar, who finished with ten assists, nine digs, seven aces, and 14 kills. In addition, the Wildcats had Brooke Whittle and Abbey Ruiz both finish with five assists and four kills.
The first set started close with a back-and-forth between both teams.
Once the Wildcats took a five-point lead 5-10, they never looked back, finishing with a 15-25 victory.
The Wildcats’ defense was led by Tamarra Carranza, who finished with 22 digs.
As the second set began, Imperial hit the ground running, 11-9.
Leading the Tigers was Cheney Gomez, who finished with eight kills, six assists, and 13 digs.
The Tigers maintained the lead until the end, finishing with a 23-25 win.
Adding to the offensive effort, the Tigers’ Georgia Gomez added six kills. Andrea De La Trinidad put in a strong defensive effort with 16 digs, also followed by Nayeli Cardona who finished with 11 digs.
Once the third set rolled around, it was a close game until the Wildcats took a four-point lead going into the final stretch, 15-19.
Despite a few close calls, the Wildcats kept their composure and pushed past the Tigers, 17-25.
Serving as the defensive cornerstone was team captain Libero Emmi Franco, who finished with ten digs and 18 assists.
“Leading and supporting my role has been a big focus this season, but the main focus is always the team,” Franco said. “We have a young team but it works well and we all want to win, so it has been great.”
The start of the fourth set resembled the others, both teams keeping each other close.
The Wildcats went up 12-9 and stuck to their game plan to achieve a win, 16-25.
Brawley Wildcat Sophie Ruiz helped her team as both a defensive and offensive standout in the set. Ruiz finished with six digs and five aces.
“Coming into the game, we knew we had to give it their all and never give up,” Ruiz said. “We had to come in with a ‘we can do it mentality.’ We did not get down on ourselves and we kept our attitudes helped us throughout the game.”
Imperial head coach Jill Lerno said she is looking forward to her team continuing to work hard as regular season league play comes to a close this week.
“Brawley was very effective and did an outstanding job,” Lerno said, “(but) our goal moving forward is to improve our team cohesiveness and not give up when times get tough.”
Giving an all-around effort for the Tigers was Donna Garnica-Sanchez, who added 14 assists and seven digs.
The Wildcats have concluded regular season Imperial Valley League play, and will await the final rankings, which determine postseason advancement.
The Tigers will return to the court on Thursday, Oct. 20, as they travel to take on the Calexico Bulldogs.