MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Even in instances in which it misses serves or dropped balls, Roma was very much in contention of winning every game Tuesday.
So once they finally put it all together against Edinburg High, the Lady Gladiators were able to pull out a 26-28, 25-18, 25-20, 15-8 non-district road win.
Roma (21-5) failed to put away the match in Game 4 against a pesky Edinburg High team that jumped out to an 8-2 lead. But the Lady Gladiators imposed their will in the final set, taking a 5-3 edge before gradually pulling away.
“We just played together and came together as a team,” Roma coach Angie Garcia said. “Once we made the adjustments (from Game 1), it helped out.”
After leading 24-23 in Game 1, Roma failed to close out the game when Edinburg High’s Dezi Marmolejo connected with Amber Reyes for a back-row kill knotted the game.
The Lady Bobcats eventually won the opening frame after Marmolejo set up Samantha Serna for the go-ahead kill before Reyes’ ace iced it.
The Lady Gladiators shored up their missed tips and rotations in the front row to come out stronger in the next two games. They also attacked Edinburg High more effectively, using a 9-1 run (five of those on Edinburg High errors) to take a 20-12 lead that very much swung momentum.
As Roma read hitters better and picked up balls, it had the game in control. Edinburg High, on the other hand, struggled. It came as close as 23-20 in Game 3 after a Serna ace before two consecutive errors allowed the Lady Gladiators to take a 2-1 advantage.
On the brink of elimination, the Lady Bobcats (18-7) responded in Game 4 by jumping out to a 6-1 lead, prompting a Roma timeout. Edinburgh High held its position the entire way through, until the final set.
That’s when the Lady Bobcats had three calls go against them as Roma took a 5-3 lead for good,
“These girls have been winning and they came through today,” Edinburg High coach Deanna Dominguez said of Roma.
Ale Galindo posted eight kills, 24 assists, 19 digs. Annette Jasso recorded 13 kills, six digs and eight blocks. And Luz Gonzalez posted five kills, two digs and six blocks.
Yosalin Barajas also came up big in setting up her teammates, tallying 14 assists and 26 digs.
“It’s hard to mention only a couple of names,” Garcia said. “With this team, we’re not just a one-girl team or a two-girl team. We’ve got a lot of girls that do a lot for our team.”
Serna led the way for the Lady Bobcats, posting 14 kills, two blocks, three aces and 12 digs. Marmolejo added 39 digs, 24 assists, nine kills and seven aces. Elizabeth Olivarez posted a match-high 50 digs to go with one ace and one kill.
Teammate Yessi Molina recorded 17 digs, 11 assists and three kills, while Bree Pena contributed 26 digs, three aces and one assist.