PHARR — For years, the McAllen volleyball programs have cemented their spots atop District 30-6A, with the remaining teams left to battle for the fourth and final playoff berth.
PSJA High head coach Carolina Cuellar wants to change that.
“We don’t want to just accept that we can play or have the fourth spot,” she said. “We want better — we want second or third (place), we want to compete at a high level and be a top program like them, not just in the Valley, but in the state. Those schools have been amazing for years, but we don’t want to be just a consolation.”
After a mediocre start to the season, the Bears appear to be marching in that direction. Saturday, PSJA improved to 15-8 with a 25-12, 25-17, 25-14 sweep over Weslaco East in a non-district match at the PSJA High’s gymnasium. The Bears were led by an impressive performance from senior Victoria Fuentes, who notched 13 kills, four blocks and put together multiple points with a hard-to-return jump serve that the visiting Wildcats rarely could handle.
Jumairy Campos added seven kills and Murielle Murillo contributed four.
While PSJA easily won the battle at the net, key to the Bears was their defense, covering behind their front row and anticipating where balls would be hit to so they could make a good pass to setter Catia Cavazos to set up attacks.
“That defense is the key to us,” said Cuellar, in her second year at the PSJA helm. “Even if I have the best hitter, if she can’t play defense, she won’t be on the floor. I need all six girls ready to go at all times.”
PSJA came out strong right from the start. Fuentes downed a passing error from the Wildcats that came too close to the net and then with the game tied at four, the senior middle hitter also showed her ability to his line drive jump serves as the Bears increased their lead to 14-6. Late in the set, Murillo connected on back to back kills and suddenly PSJA held a 23-12 lead. A block and kill later by Fuentes and the first set was done.
Fuentes is making her second tour with PSJA, playing for the Bears her freshman and sophomore years, then winning a district title with Edinburg High before coming back to PSJA for her senior season. She said plenty of work, as well as realizing how the other team plays, is all part of preparing for each game.
“We knew that they pinched in on defense so we were looking to go down to lines and the corners were open,” Fuentes said, adding that she feels like she’s coming into her own now. “I feel like I sense things better, I look at the ball and then ‘boom.’ It’s been pretty amazing.”
District play begins in two weeks and Cuellar said she’s not only preparing for teams like the three-headed powerhouses out of McAllen, but also rivals such as PSJA North.
“We came in last year and had the better team, I thought,” Cuellar said. “And yet they walked away with the win. We’re trying to accomplish something special here. When I first got here the girls had to confidence. They had to reason to play, just play. Now, they don’t want to just play, they want to win. They want to win in the toughest district in the Valley.
“We’re not just competing against any school — these are big-time names. Everybody knows the McAllen and we want to be there with our program as well.”