McALLEN — Mayda Garcia has played volleyball long enough to know when something’s different. She can sense it on the court, from her opponents, and there isn’t any mystery as to why it’s happening.
“Everyone’s coming at us hard because they know how deep we went (in the playoffs) last year,” Garcia said. “But that’s expected. You just have to fight through it. When you go deep in the playoffs, you have a big target on your back. And that’s what Coach tells us all the time, that everyone’s trying to beat us down, beat us down. But we can’t let that get to us. We just have to keep fighting.”
McAllen Rowe exceeded expectations last season when it advanced to the regional tournament. It lost to Churchill in that fourth-round match, but it was enough to grab attention in the Valley — a complete 180 from the support it had received to start the year.
“No believed in us. No one,” Garcia said. “I mean, our parents believed in us because they’re our parents. But no one thought we could make it past the first round. I think that’s what pumped us up.”
The Lady Warriors used that fuel to inspire their postseason run. Now, McAllen Rowe returns seven players from last year’s team, led by Garcia and fellow senior captain Sophie Luna.
Entering this year, Luna was preparing to deal with the pressure of being one of the team’s upperclassmen and captains. And it wasn’t until the season began that she realized teams would view Rowe through a different lens.
“It’s a lot different,” she said. “Coach’s expectations, team’s expectations. We have to work hard for it. That’s what we’re doing. Not a day goes by when we’re not working hard.
“Last year, we weren’t expecting to get there (to the regional tournament). But when we did, it was kind of like, ‘We’re here, we have to finish.’ We wanted to get past the fourth round. We gave it our all. So now this year, we’re expecting to get there. We’re expecting to pass it.”
The two have helped carry the Lady Warriors early in the season. On the second day of the Poundfest Tournament, Rowe beat Weslaco High (25-17, 25-9), McAllen Memorial (25-16, 28-26) and Cigarroa (25-12, 25-16) to improve to 8-0 overall.
Garcia led the way with a combined 29 kills, five aces, 17 digs and three blocks. Luna chipped in with 19 kills, three aces, nine digs and two blocks.
Their success comes as no surprise to coach Magda Canales, who has seen the tandem flourish over the past couple of years. Garcia has come a long way from the quiet, unassuming player that entered the program. Now a captain, the three-year letterman has found her voice and has become a capable leader alongside Luna, an energetic outside hitter who delivers thundering hits into the back row.
The Lady Warriors are counting on the duo to help lead another postseason surge.
“The expectation is to go further than last year,” Canales said. “We always want to do better than we did the year before. And experience is going to be one of the main factors that’s going to get us through it. Just working together as a team.
“They have the experience of advancing to the playoffs their freshmen and sophomore years, so that’s going to bring a lot to the table.”