EDINBURG — Sharyland High head coach Raul Castillo called timeout to talk things over with his team.
It seemed to have worked as the Rattlers scored on back-to-back plays coming out of the huddle.
They stopped a volley with a big block by Marianna Martinez. On their next volley, Martinez scored with a kill from the back row in effort to switch the momentum.
But Sharyland couldn’t keep its offense rolling, giving up that short-lived offense and falling to Edinburg Vela 25-21, 25-17 and 25-18.
Vela improved to 14-9 overall as Sharyland dropped to 13-10 on the season.
Vela senior Glenys Maldonado ended the night with 12 kills, eight points and 10 digs. In the last set, she helped push the SaberCats past the visiting Rattlers with a kill down the line to the right corner to end the match.
“I’m glad we came out with a win,” Maldonado said. “We kind of had a rough game with them back at the McHi tournament.”
She said this game was a comeback and made up for mistakes against Sharyland during their last meeting at the PoundFest tournament.
“I’m just really happy we got them in three sets,” Maldonado said.
Sharyland showed glimpses of brilliance on the floor, keeping up with the SaberCats in each set with a powerful, but inconsistent, offense and tenacious defense.
“We are trying to learn how to read the offense and adjust,” Castillo said. “It will take us some time.”
Rattlers leading SaberCats 10-14 in third set. pic.twitter.com/7Bxf7BdX9p
— Raul Garcia (@rgvsportsraul) August 28, 2019
He said the Rattlers’ defense has what it takes to shut down opponents, but sometimes opponents will tip the ball over them, which has been an area the Rattlers need to improve.
And the SaberCats did just that. They didn’t slow down in the first two sets.
In the third set, the Rattlers pushed the SaberCats by taking a lead early and slowing them down midway through the third.
Then the SaberCats came back and took the lead permanently after five lead changes and some fierce volleys that extended the set longer than the previous two.
Vela’s Izabella Rodriguez had four kills and one block, Becca Cavazos had 18 digs and Kerin Rojas had nine assists and four aces.
SaberCats hosting Rattlers at home. Home team controlling the tempo 20-14 in first set. pic.twitter.com/iwOgQS89ix
— Raul Garcia (@rgvsportsraul) August 28, 2019
“It was a very good win,” Vela head coach Araceli Ortega said. “We had good chemistry and it’s getting better.”
Sharyland’s Tristen Maddox led the team with 11 kills. Andrea Espinosa had six kills. Adriana Alvarez added five kills. Ximena Chapa chipped in with three kills. And Marissa Jones contributed two kills.
“Tristen is one of the heavy hard hitters,” Castillo said. “The team depends on her a lot, so when she is out of rhythm, we’re going to suffer.”
Castillo said the absence of their starting setter Ana Paola Cerda may have been the game changer.
Castillo said Cerda is injured and out for five more days, and not having her in the game hurt the team.
“We have the physical ability, but we haven’t been able to get those leaders out there to get the team together and make them believe,” Castillo said.