GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG —Edinburg High’s Dezi Marmolejo didn’t talk much as a freshman. She wasn’t great at listening, either.
Anxious about being a varsity setter so early in her career, Marmolejo struggled to take instruction from coach Deanna Dominguez, much less communicate with her teammates.
“I was just nervous,” Marmolejo said. “When she told me something, I’d freeze. This time, she tells me something, I’m there, and I do it.”
Now in her junior season, the reigning District 31-6A outstanding setter counts leadership among her many strengths.
Marmolejo’s teammates rely on her to direct traffic and run the offense, and she’s delivered, propelling the Bobcats to a 30-7 overall record, including a 9-2 mark that places the team second in the district standings.
“She brings everything to the team,” sophomore Tianna Howard said. “When I’m hitting, she tells me where to go.”
An accomplished hitter in her own right, Marmolejo can read a block and show her teammates the openings.
Marmolejo is quick to offer praise after a strong shot, or to point out potential fixes after an error.
“Whenever we go up to hit, she’s right there on the side telling us go line, or tip. She’s in our little ear all the time,” junior Marissa Arce said. “Her sets are just phenomenal. She is a good leader, and she pulls everybody together.”
Even when Marmolejo was sitting out during the Laredo Tournament in the aftermath of a concussion, she called out shots and openings from the bench.
She’s also tried to help her teammates away from the court. When Howard made varsity as a freshman last year — her first in the Edinburg school system after coming up in PSJA — Marmolejo made her feel at home.
“Dezi would help me. She tells me, ‘Your second year, it always gets better,’” Howard said. “It was hard to adjust, but the girls made it easier for me to kind of feel a part of the family.”
Marmolejo came into this season expecting to work as both a setter and hitter, but she’s become a six-rotation setter as the year has gone on.
Howard said the late-season change makes life easier on the hitters, who don’t have to adjust to different styles of sets from point to point.
“Dezi, she’s the type of kid that you want on every single play,” Dominguez said. “When she’s in control of the ball, she’s very consistent, and she has chemistry with our hitters.”
On top of taking control of the offense, Marmolejo has developed physically, becoming stronger and faster. She’s also a powerful hitter, and one of the team’s best servers.
“She really just wants to help out as much as humanly possible, because she’s so competitive,” Dominguez said. “We’re really blessed to have her personality on our team.”
With Marmolejo, Arce and Howard, the Bobcats already have a strong offensive core set to return next season. The team will have to replace three seniors, but Dominguez said she’s excited about the level of the talent in JV — something that hasn’t been a given since the split that created Edinburg Vela.
Howard said the team has grown substantially closer from last year to this year, and that process is only expected to keep moving forward.
“I think as I continue to grow up, we’re just going to get stronger as a team,” Howard said. “We’ve gotten stronger since my freshman year, and I can’t wait to see what my junior year and senior year bring.”