BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MISSION – McAllen Memorial found itself in a two-sets-to-one hole before digging out of it to defeat Sharyland High 23-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-19, 15-6 on Tuesday night inside the Sharyland High Gymnasium.
“We stayed positive. We kept cheering,” McAllen Memorial junior blocker Jocelynn Everage said. “In the games we lost, we noticed we were more quiet and timid and not playing the way we should. In the games that we won, we were louder and more energetic.”
The Rattlers and Mustangs traded runs in the first set. McAllen Memorial’s unforced errors, which became a theme throughout the match, lifted Sharyland High to an early 12-8 lead. Memorial rallied back on the powerful arms of Everage and fellow junior middle blocker Valeria Trevino, pulling ahead 14-13 and later 21-18. Unforced errors once again held the Mustangs back and catapulted the Rattlers to a victory in the first set.
“I think we just came out flat,” McAllen Memorial coach Lorena Lopez said. “This was the first evening game that we played, and sometimes little things like that make a big difference. I don’t want to make excuses for my team. We have to work and play hard whenever we hit the floor.”
Sharyland High started the second set with a 9-4 lead before Memorial took a 14-13 advantage and never relinquished it, leveling the match at one set apiece.
More errors plagued the Mustangs in the third set as the Rattlers opened up their largest advantage of the match: a seven-point cushion to take the set 25-18.
The fourth set was when the light switched on for McAllen Memorial (9-2).
“As we went on in the match, they gained their composure,” Lopez said. “It’s like they woke up and decided, ‘Hey, we’re not going to lose tonight. We better play.’ A lot of girls got to get into the game and showed me that they want to be in there. I was proud of them for that.”
Sharyland High (6-5) coach Raul Castillo had his group in position to pull off the upset, but the Rattlers couldn’t finish the job.
“We stopped serving tough. That’s pretty much it,” Castillo said. “I’d tell them where to serve, who to serve and make them [McAllen Memorial] move. We started passing it to their better serve receivers. They were able to transition and earn their points.”
A victory for McAllen Memorial was not enough for Lopez to overlook legitimate issues with unforced errors heading into this weekend’s Northside Tournament in San Antonio.
“We still need to work on our communication and also letting go of the ‘me,’” Lopez said. “Letting go of, ‘My mistake.’ In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. It’s about the team. I don’t care that you mess up. I care about the next play. The girls need to let go of themselves and just be part of the team.”