BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — The Edinburg High Bobcats weren’t at their best, but they didn’t need to be in their three-game sweep of the PSJA Southwest Javelinas 25-5, 25-22, 25-15 inside EHS’ gymnasium on Tuesday night.
The Bobcats (13-11, 5-1) jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first game, and the Javelinas had no answer for senior middle blocker Tianna Howard, whose right arm overpowered the Southwest defense.
“I felt like the girls were serving tough,” Edinburg High coach Deanna Dominguez said. “When you serve tough and the other team gives you free balls, it makes the attacker’s job a lot easier.”
EHS again led 9-1 in the second, but PSJA Southwest went on a 15-6 rally to take its first lead of the match.
PSJA Southwest coach Jackie Olvera knew her Javelinas (17-8, 2-4) faced a tall order on the road, but she is encouraged by how the team finished.
“We started to wake up,” Olvera said. “I think it was mixture of playing Edinburg (High) and all of their tradition. But I liked how our girls didn’t show any attitude and didn’t give up in the second and third games. Seeing how we showed unity on some level, I believe we can build from that.”
Similar to previous matches, the second game brought the Bobcats back down to Earth after the sudden high of their fast start.
“I think we get a little too confident and let points slip away from us,” Howard said. “By the time we actually realize how we’re playing, they’re able to catch up. Luckily, we came out with the win today.”
“We started relaxing, and that’s kind of been the tendency with us,” Dominguez said. “We like to relax a little bit, and we’re going to try and fix that as much as possible in practice. We are still a young team, but we can’t do that with anybody in our district.”
Howard led the Bobcats with 20 kills to go along with 16 digs and four blocks, while fellow senior in the middle Natalie Martinez chipped in with 12 kills, one dig and four blocks of her own.
Martinez is dealing with an undiagnosed left knee injury that has her in a brace, limiting some of her mobility due to occasional swelling.
“I haven’t got it checked out yet, so our trainer is giving me support for when I land so we can keep it from getting worse,” Martinez said.
Dominguez doesn’t have a lot of roster depth to work with but makes sure Martinez isn’t playing the entire match.
“She plays on three rotations right now. That’s the most we can get out of her,” Dominguez said. “We’ve also modified things for her practice since we can’t do everything we’d want to.”
Despite entering Tuesday’s game tied for first place in District 31-6A, Dominguez still sees her team as a work in progress.
“Every game brings something new we’re trying to polish and fix up,” Dominguez said. “We’ll have to create those urgent experiences in practice so our little ones can be ready for them in the game.”