McALLEN — Kenisha Martinez, America Hernandez and Kassandra de la Garza combined for 31 kills and Sharyland High won its 25th straight match, beating McAllen High 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-15 in a District 31-5A match at McAllen High.
The win improved Sharyland to 8-0 in district play, the only undefeated team. McHi drops to 5-3. Both teams have one match remaining to complete the first half of district play.
McAllen Memorial swept McAllen Rowe also on Tuesday to improve to 7-1 in district, one game behind the Rattlers. Rowe also dropped to 5-3.
Martinez and de la Garza, both sophomores, tallied 20 and five kills, respectively, and Hernandez contributed six kills and three aces. Martinez led the team with four aces, including one in the fourth set that barely cleared the net and looked like a baseball line drive that found a gap as McHi defenders could only look at it. It gave the Rattlers a commanding 22-14 advantage, and one play later she added her final kill of the night from the back row.
“She is just a terrific player who does whatever is asked of her,” Sharyland head coach Raul Castillo said. “She also brings so much energy and keeps everyone up and ready.”
McHi served hard throughout the match, an area that at times has been its forte. Gabby Estringel and Katherine Wiliamson had big days attacking on the outside for the Bulldogs, and the defense made the Rattlers swing on multiple occasions to earn points.
Martinez said the team prepared all week for McHi and its intense serving.
“They have great servers over there and we knew that was something they were going to do,” the sophomore hitter said. “So we practiced extra long on serve returns.”
McHi went on a 5-0 run at the end of the third set after being tied at 20. Williamson dropped a long return straight over the net and registered a pair of kills during the run, and Yaneli Rocha served up an ace to keep the Bulldogs in the game.
“We were up 2-0 and sometimes the girls don’t come out as intense after that,” Castillo said. “I told them they had to keep swinging and stay focused.”
They were plenty focused in the fourth set, jumping out to leads of 9-3 and 12-6, including a 4-0 run and an ace from Sharyland’s Ava Garza. McHi closed to within six until Sharyland put together another 4-0 mini run to extend the lead to 20-12.
Estringel, a freshman lefty, led McHi in kills with 11, while Williamson added 10 kills and a pair of blocks.
Castillo said last year is a reminder that keeps the team motivated. The Rattlers finished 7-7 in district play and missed the playoffs by one game.
Before the season began, Castillo talked about how for the first time in a while, the Rattlers were returning everyone for this season and the expectations were high.
Sharyland High closes out the first half of the district season against Sharyland Pioneer. The Diamondbacks are alone in third place with a 6-2 district record.