BEEVILLE – The Moreno Middle School Lady Trojan volleyball teams played host to the Kingsville girls last Monday night and the four matches were split.

The seventh and eighth-grade A teams both won, but the B squads both lost close games. Coaches were pleased with the big improvements shown by the B teams over the previous week’s games.

In the 7A match, the Lady Trojans captured a 2-0 win with victories of 25-11 and 25-19. Allison Gonzales and Maricella Gonzales both recorded seven points for the Lady Trojans off their serves. Cierra Gonzales added another four points. Alyssa Silva, Alyssa Medina and Loryn Calderon each contributed three points off their serve in the match.

“The girls are showing improvement each game and have really been working together to get better and improve their volleyball game,” said MMS coach Nidia Barrera.

In the 8A match, the MMS girls played a competitive Kingsville squad but came out on top in two straight. Scores were 25-17 and 25-19 over the Lady Brahmas.

The Lady Trojans were led by Margaret Downing, Sierra Jefferson and Janie Cano, each getting multiple points off their service games.

“The Lady Trojans had a great serving game, with Margaret Downing serving six points in a row with one ace and Janie Cano serving seven in a row in the second set,” said MMS coach Holly Vasquez.

The B teams battled hard but both fell in straight sets. The seventh-graders took the visitors to three sets before losing. The Lady Brahmas captured sets one (25-19) and three (no score given) while the Beeville girls earned a 25-18 win in set two.

“Briana Bunton, Allison Gamez and Caitlin Wilkenson contributed several points off serves and the efforts of Garcelle Perez, Abigal Traylor, Maddie Zambrano and Jayme Martinez kept the game close in set one but the Beeville girls just couldn’t make it happen,” said coach Julie Maupin.

In the second set Stephanie Matthews, Mowdy Sanchez, Britanni Lucio and Emlie Bozant played very well together, according to Maupin.

The third set also had the Lady Trojans playing well.

“The combination of Makayla Chavarria, Ana Casas, Gabby Aguirre, Ashleigh Barrientez and Katelyn Chapa fought hard to win the last game but the Brahmas took the match,” Maupin said.

In the 8B match, both sets were very close and could have gone either way. The Kingsville girls prevailed 2-0 with set wins of 25-22 and 28-26.

“What a close game. The eighth-grade girls really improved from last week,” said MMS coach Amber Orchard.

“It was disappointing to get so close and still lose the match but it has motivated our girls to work harder this week,” Orchard said.

The coach pointed out the play of Amber Waddell and Emily Carabajal for their serving and Mackenzie De La Garza for her fine defensive play.

The MMS girls played the visiting Gregory-Portland squads on Monday.