TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — For McAllen High setter Carter Helmcamp, getting assists isn’t much of problem.
The Lady Bulldogs’ front line is long, talented and relentless. Lobbing a ball up for a kill is as simple as shooting target practice from five feet out — with multiple weapons.
“It’s awesome. It’s like a loaded gun everywhere I go,” Helmcamp said.
And it was firing Friday night as the Lady Bulldogs made quick work of Edinburg Vela and swept the Lady Sabercats in the area round of the Class 6A volleyball playoffs, 25-17, 25-17 and 25-19.
McHi’s 6-foot front line of Julia Monday, Sydney Pemelton and Victoria Rogers pummeled Vela with 34 kills combined, led by Monday’s 18, and loaded by Helmcamp’s nimble and intelligent floor play.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 42-2, the most victories ever in a season under long-time coach Paula Dodge, and they await Saturday’s Los Fresnos-Laredo United winner for a third-round match.
Edinburg Vela, meanwhile, ended the season 36-9, but not before claiming the 31-6A championship and a bi-district victory.
But Friday night belonged to McHi. The Lady Bulldogs, playing at home in front of nearly 1,000 fans, were simply too much for the Lady SaberCats. Vela’s athletic team was taken out of its normal game by McHi’s commanding height. Where it would normally attempt a kill, the Lady SaberCats often settled for just getting it over the net.
For perspective, Vela managed just three kills in game one. McAllen had that many blocks.
Dodge said the team’s ability to run multiple set plays on offense and “mix it up” helped it score quickly and take big leads in each of the three sets. McHi trailed for only a few points in game two.
“We knew they are a very athletic, very powerful team so we knew we had to be strong up front,” Dodge said. “Our front row did a great job. Sydney, Julia, Taylor, all of them they performed well up front.”
And that was keyed by Helmcamp’s sets. The UTRGV commit finished with 33 assists.
“I don’t feel like I have to give them perfect sets,” Helmcamp said. “They really help me. They just tell me ‘Hey, you’re good, just get it up and we’ll work with it.’ As a setter, that’s really nice. They make the game easier for me.”
McHi ran out to a 19-9 lead in the first set before Vela battled back some. But the Lady Bulldogs easily closed it out behind Monday’s kills and Helmcamp’s winners. It was more of the same in the second set, more McHi frontline dominance — at one point Monday had four straight kills — and Helmcamp scored a no-look two-handed tap for good measure.
Vela played looser in set three, but McHi was still too much despite Vela’s 19 points and a solid late run of six straight points to make it close. Vela coach Araceli Ortega said her squad made too many errors to win, but was still proud of its overall accomplishments.
“I think our season was tremendous. Very memorable,” said Ortega, who graduates her biggest performers in Jaida Muhammad, Julissa Cuellar and Nicole Avelar and four others. “We’ve been working with the other group. They know they have big shoes to fill, but it’s what feeds our program.”