By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
The Del Rio High School Queens volleyball team kicked off its season with a third-place finish in the Edgewood Tournament in San Antonio.
For the Queens, the third-place finish just might be the beginning of a comeback story after a rough 2025 campaign that saw them finish with only one district win.
Del Rio suffered just one loss during the three-day tournament. On Championship Saturday, the Queens fell to San Antonio Lanier, 26-24, in the semifinals before shaking off the loss and bouncing back to defeat San Antonio Randolph to claim third place.
The victory gave Del Rio a 7-1 record to open the season.
However, all opponents aren’t equal. Del Rio, a Class 6A program, faced two Class 5A teams in San Antonio Lanier and Eagle Pass C.C. Winn, three Class 4A teams in San Antonio Kennedy, San Antonio Memorial and Pleasanton, and Class 3A Poteet.
However, a 7-1 start is a 7-1 start.
The Queens opened tournament play Thursday with three straight victories, defeating San Antonio Kennedy in two sets, Lanier in three sets and Poteet in two.
Del Rio kept rolling Friday, sweeping Eagle Pass C.C. Winn before defeating Pleasanton in three sets. The win over Pleasanton completed a perfect 5-0 run through pool play and gave the Queens first place heading into bracket competition.
Del Rio then defeated San Antonio Memorial in two sets Friday afternoon to improve to 6-0 and advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
Head coach Veronica Rivera said Friday that the Queens’ strong start was the product of work that began almost immediately after last season ended.
“Not surprised one bit!” Rivera said. “Offseason has been since last November. But 100% of this team showed up all summer to open gym and strength and conditioning. Hard work is paying off.”
That work was tested Saturday when Del Rio met Lanier for the second time in three days. After beating the Voks in three sets Thursday, the Queens came up two points short in the rematch, 26-24 in the pivotal third match.
Rather than allowing their first loss of the season to linger, the Queens regrouped and defeated Randolph in the third-place match to leave San Antonio with seven victories in eight matches and some early-season momentum.
The writer can be contacted at JoelALangton@gmail.com.
