Bragging rights won’t be the only thing at stake when the Permian and Odessa High volleyball teams face each other this week.
Both teams will be looking to end the first half of district play with momentum and to keep their playoff hopes alive in a tricky 2-6A where only one loss separates fourth place from sixth.
The two rivals will meet in a 5 p.m. game Friday at Permian Fieldhouse.
Next week, the second half of district play will begin.
The two squads are tied for fourth with the same district record. Permian comes in at 21-11, 1-3 while Odessa High is 14-9, 1-3.
“Crosstown rivalries are always very exciting,” Permian head coach Gillian Herrera said. “They’re always a fun time. You have a packed gym each time. It’s a great game and we’re ready to compete.”
After beginning district play on the right note with a sweeping win over Midland High, the Lady Panthers have since lost three in a row, falling to Midland Legacy, San Angelo Central and Wolfforth Frenship.
The Lady Bronchos, meanwhile, are coming off their first district victory in over five years, defeating Midland High in four sets Tuesday at OHS Fieldhouse.
“We’re pretty excited for getting our first district win in a while,” Odessa High head coach Cody Dominguez said. “Like what I’ve said, we’ve put in the work and we’re trusting the process. We need to continue to do that. Now, we need to fix the little things that hurt us in Tuesday’s game.”
Frenship (28-8, 4-0) currently sits alone at the top of the district standings while San Angelo Central (27-8, 3-1) and Midland Legacy (23-13, 3-1) are tied for second.
That leaves Permian and Odessa High two victories behind with the final playoff spot still up for grabs while Midland High (25-12, 0-4) is in sixth.
“With this district, it’s everybody’s ball game,” Herrera said. “You look at the records going into district and every game is going to be tough. You have to bring your A-game and compete.”
Dominguez is trying to not get too caught up in the records right now.
“I’ve been telling our team to not stress about the record,” Dominguez said. “It’s a big game for everyone. It depends on how we work on it. Everything that we’ve worked on this offseason is coming together.”
As the Lady Panthers try to right the ship, Herrera said the team just needs to be more consistent on offense and defense.
“We also need to earn more points and not try to rely on the other teams’ errors,” Herrera said. “We have to be more consistent offensively and defensively. We have to be able to create points and get to 25 first.”
Case in point, Tuesday’s game at Frenship.
“Frenship was just more consistent than us,” Herrera said. “We’re getting situations where it’s close, neck and neck, up until the 20s and we have to find a way to finish and push through and focus on our weakness and make them our strengths.”
However, there’s still plenty of season remaining and Herrera knows her team is still in control of its destiny.
“Like I said, our destiny is in our hands and there are things that we need to work on and we need to improve on in order to put on our best games and to be successful and get a spot in the playoffs,” Herrera said.
While the Lady Bronchos began district play on a rough note, losing to Midland Legacy, San Angelo Central and Wolfforth Frenship (all in straight sets), Dominguez was glad to see his team finally fix the mistakes in Tuesday’s win against Midland High.
“Something that stood out to me was how we never gave up and how we didn’t stress about our mistakes, but rather how we overcame those mistakes and bounced back from them,” Dominguez said. “We had miscommunication on who was going to hit the ball, so we talked about how we can fix that so that we’re all still staying positive. The last set, I really pushed them. I wanted them to give it everything they had and they showed they could do that with the final score in that set. The things that we did that were great included not giving up, trusting each other and feeding off the good crowd that we had.”
Both teams will meet again on Oct. 24 at OHS Fieldhouse to wrap up the regular season.
