DONNA — Longtime head coach Cynthia Viesca is working to bring a long and rich winning culture back to the Donna Bravettes. Meanwhile, Gavin Rudder is looking to create that culture as he begins his first year at Weslaco.

Led by returning senior Erica Garcia and junior Isabel Lawson, Donna overcame a second-set wake-up call from Weslaco to capture a 25-13, 11-25, 16-14 victory over the visiting Panthers during a tri-match with Mission High on Tuesday at Donna High. In other matches at Donna, Mission won both matches, 25-22, 25-7 over Weslaco and 25-11, 25-7 over Donna.

“We pulled out that first set but felt we relaxed a little in the second, and Weslaco woke up and they were swinging and got their hitters going,” said Viesca, who is closing in on her 500th career coaching victory. “Before the third set, I told them that if Weslaco got a good pass they were going to hit the ball and they did. We are a young team trying to learn our positions defensively, and learning to chase the ball down and who can help the setter when the ball doesn’t get passed to her.”

Lawson registered a pair of kills down the line to clinch the victory during the Bravettes’ 3-0 run that started with them battling back from down 15-14. Prior to that, with Lawson serving, Donna put together a 5-0 run, highlighted by a saving dig and two kills from Garcia.

“Usually we have setters returning, this year we have our outsides and they are opposite each other, so we know we always have one of them in the front row,” Viesca said. “They are coming around.”

It looked as if Weslaco would pull off the victory, gaining momentum following a full-speed crash into the bleachers by Elizabeth Craig and an unexpected save by the Panthers’ defense en route to an 8-4 lead.

While the Panthers looked stronger on the attack, led by right-side Jazmyn Cano and Mia Chapa, the Donna defense withstood the challenge and played consistent by blocking holes and forcing Weslaco to make aggressive errors.

“In the third set we were reading their hitters more, looking at their shoulders and covering those spots they hit during the second set,” Lawson said. “It came down to letting them make their own mistakes and using it to our advantage and just playing smart at the end, finding open spots and keeping a positive attitude as a team. That helped us pull through.”

McALLEN — After Sharyland High lost to PSJA during the first day of pool play at the 17th annual McAllen High Pound Fest volleyball tournament, head coach Raul Castillo had “the talk” with the defending District 31-5A champions and UIL Class 5A Sweet 16 team.

“There’s never a good loss but it wakes you up,” Castillo said. “Nobody’s scared of you. Who are you? We all have something to show and we all have something to prove.

“I’ve been telling them if you want to win big games and you feel butterflies, you feel nervous, it’s normal. You want to be in those situations. That’s a good feeling, not a bad feeling.”

The message hit home and the Rattlers (9-1) rolled through the rest of the tournament, winning the championship with a 25-23, 25-17 sweep over an upstart McHi team Saturday at McAllen High School.

Kassandra De La Garza had a monster performance attacking, setting and diving ruthlessly for multiple saves to help the Rattlers pull away late during both sets.

“She gives us matchup that we like and we know what she can do. She’s her own player and she can put the ball down as strong as Kenisha (Martinez), she just needs to want to do it,” Castillo said. “It’s time for her to take more credit and step up and get involved like that.”

The junior right side hitter finished the day with nine kills and nine assists, many of those going to teammate, classmate and last season’s RGVSports.com Player of the Year, Kenisha Martinez, who led Sharyland with 15 kills and three aces, two of those aces coming to set up match point.

“For the past two years, Pound Fest has been a terrible experience for me but this year it changed,” De La Garza said. “I knew I had to try and make up for the past two years.”

The teams were tied six times in the first set by 8-8. Then McHi, behind a pair of kills from Katherine Williamson took a two-point lead. The teams tied again at each point between 17 and 23 before De La Garza tipped a ball and Pamela Peña followed it with another tip to end the first set.

“We cannot get cocky,” De La Garza said. “Just because we won district last year doesn’t mean we’re gong to win district this year. We have to play together and bring the same energy we had last year.”

The teams were tied again in the second set, for the final time at 14, before Sharyland went on a 5-0 run with Ashlyn Garcia serving. During the run, Martinez registered a kill down the line, a point on a roll shot to the middle and Barbara Peña also collected a block. The Bulldogs couldn’t close the gap and Sharyland clinched the victory.

“I think we came together as a team,” Martinez said. “We had our ups and downs but at the end of the day we had more ups than downs. I think it’s going to be a pretty good season. Teams are going to want to take our position in district but we’re not going to stop and we will keep pushing to keep that top spot.”

[email protected]

McALLEN — When the stampede starts, you best get out of its path.

That was the case Friday afternoon and big hitters Amare Hernandez and Madisyn Sosa powered their Mustangs to a convincing 25-17, 25-15 over PSJA High during Day 2 of the McAllen High Poundfest volleyball tournament at McAllen Memorial. The event, which concludes Saturday with the championship bracket played at McAllen High, is being held at all three McAllen campuses – Rowe, Memorial and McHi.

The Mustangs and Bears came into the match undefeated in both the tournament and overall during the young season and have pulled themselves apart as two of the top teams in the Rio Grande Valley.

Memorial was playing without injured standout senior hitter Leah Garcia while PSJA star Johanna Montelongo was favoring her right leg following a prior match with Harlingen South and sat most of the first set before returning to the floor in the second.

Both teams could face each other again Saturday based on how the brackets are set up.

Hernandez and Sosa both displayed the power that have helped propel Memorial to last year’s Class 5A Sweet 16 and have made them a perennial power while senior setter Gaby Torres ran a silky offense with well placed balls and some sneaky dinks to keep the Mustangs in control of the match from the onset.

Memorial led 5-0, highlighted by a Sosa ace and back row kill, before Julianna Guajardo got Memorial on the board with a kill. Memorial led 18-12 before the Bears closed to 18-15, again behind a pair of kills from Guajardo.

That’s when the high-flying Sosa started rolling and registered three kills during a five-point span then Kaitlyn Martin put the first set away with a kill from the middle. It was the first set dropped by PSJA this season.

“I think after a couple of points we just got a hold of ourselves,” Hernandez said. “They’ve got (libero) Alexa (Carranza) and she’s all over the floor and they have big hitters and blockers and we just needed to be ourselves.”

Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing summed it up, saying “the girls were awake and they were meshing together. It didn’t matter who did what, they were just all working and being the team we’ve been for four years.”

Sosa led the team with 15 kills and a pair of aces while Hernandez contributed nine kills and a pair of blocks. Hernandez also showed some of her better defensive skills that she said she had worked hard on all during the offseason.

“It’s important,” she said. “I can finally read the hitters and I’m a hitter so I kind of know. But as much of an effort I put into the front row, I put into the back row. Defense is a mentality – you can’t be nervous, you just have to own it.”

Middle blocker Karly Bazan also stepped into the spotlight Friday, working with Hernandez on back-to-back blocks late in the second set. Earlier in the set she added a solo block and a quick kill as Memorial increased its lead. Torres and Ashley Garza each had 10 assists.

“This pool is tough,” Doffing said. “I prepared the girls for the whole day. It’s about respecting each and every team. Any team on any day can take us out.”

[email protected]

McALLEN — Yaneli Rocha said she and her McHi teammates have some unfinished business on the volleyball court this year after missing the playoffs last season.

After Tuesday’s 25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-6 win over Laredo Alexander at the McHi gym, it’s safe to say the Bulldogs are open for business.

McHi head coach Estefania Portillo earned her first win in her Bulldogs coaching debut and McHi used contributions from multiple players, playing especially smart down the stretch in the convincing fifth set. Kayla Salinas found the opening twice on second balls that took Alexander by surprise and Gaby Estringel tipped a ball short to open court during a play that sent the entire Laredo team deep, recovering a Rocha serve. Katherine Williamson put the match away with a kill.

Alexander defeated McHi in last year’s mutual season opener in Laredo, 3-1. Similar to last season, Alexander was once again led by powerful junior middle hitter Andrea Nunez.

The Bulldogs shifted gears during the match, starting out serving extremely aggressive. However, they were more effective later in the match, moving the serve around and floating several short and soft, keeping Alexander off guard and giving the home-standing Bulldogs more opportunities to attack.

“We were trying to be very aggressive with our serves and that’s why our balls went deep, but then mixed it in with some short ones and it gave us some success. It’s something we continue to work on,” Portillo said. “I’m very proud of our serve receive and our passes were really on point. Defensively, the girls were outstanding recovering.”

Rocha not only played big with her serves throughout the match, but also setting the ball and playing opposite fellow lefty Estringel on the right side.

“It feels amazing to start off this way,” said Rocha, a sophomore. “We have a lot of unfinished business from last year, not making it to playoffs and being known as the team that didn’t make it. It really showed us today that we can do it. It’s always team over everything. We noticed their defense was moving short and long, so we went along with it and it helped.”

McHi at times looked to be in midseason form and not just taking the court officially for the first match of the season. The Bulldogs didn’t send a free ball to Alexander until late in the first set. As the two-hour match wore on, middle hitters Isabella Rivera and Karely Cantu came up with with well-placed attacks and several blocks against Nunez and outside hitter Stella Evans.

McHi committed 11 service errors and three aces during first two sets, then twisted those numbers with just six service errors and six aces in the final three sets. Libero Kaylen Ottmers and Rocha led the team in aces.

McHi returns to action Thursday as the Bulldogs host the annual McHi Poundfest volleyball tournament. McHi will play at 9 a.m. against Brownsville Rivera, 11 a.m. against Harlingen South and 1 p.m. against PSJA Memorial, the program Portillo coached the previous five years. See the entire Poundfest schedule at RGVSports.com.

[email protected]

When Caroline Cuellar took over the PSJA High volleyball program, the expectations were to reach the postseason.

How times – and expectations – have changed.

Now, the Bears are looking for a third straight district crown, coming off an undefeated District 31-6A run a season ago. But, those aren’t where the expectations sit.

“We used to be just hoping to make a run to reach playoffs,” said Cuellar, who enters her fifth year as the PSJA coach. “Of course, we want to win district. But now, it has turned into a run in the playoffs, not just making it, but trying to get past the second round. I’ve told the girls if you do that, you’ll make it past the third round too.”

The Bears return 10 players from last year’s squad, which fell in the second round of the playoffs to San Antonio Warren. The addition of transfer Mia Dominguez from Edinburg High adds to a solid offensive lineup that includes hitters Johanna Montelongo, Julianna Guajardo and Karina Lucio, who sat out last season as a 365-day transfer from PSJA North. Alexa Carranza returns at libero and Victoria Gonzalez at setter.

Cuellar said she has believed that as long as the girls at PSJA stay at PSJA and not transfer to another school or program, they could build and become what they have. It has been critical and has given her time and consistency to grow the program, starting in junior high.

“It comes in the girls investing a lot of time and believing in themselves and not just at the high school level,” Cuellar said. “In the past, they would be going against teams with power hitters and already be mentally defeated. It’s about the culture of it, believing in themselves and trusting each other.”

Montelongo, a standout four-year varsity player and team captain, said the proverbial bar has clearly been raised.

“I have a lot of goals for the team,” Montelongo said. “It’s a very talented group and we’re looking to make it to the Sweet 16. Our offense is really good, adding Karina and Mia, and Alexa is all over the court. We’ve been working individually and together to build chemistry and I’ve been working on my leadership and being a bigger voice.”

Cuellar said the offense will be more varied, and faster, with more options. Four starters are six-rotation players, meaning they can play defense and more than likely be used more for back-row attacks.

“When hitters can play defense and attack from the back row, they become so much more of a threat and I’m talking to them about being an option. I don’t want you on the court if you’re not a threat,” Cuellar said. “They just want to win, no matter what. They don’t have their own agenda and they go with the game plan,” Cuellar said. “They trust the game plan and the process and that plays big in their performance. The goal is to speed up our offense. Have minimal errors and speed up faster.”

The defending District 31-6A champs open the non-district portion of their schedule at Los Fresnos on Tuesday with a tri-match including the Falcons and Harlingen High. They open the annual McAllen High Poundfest volleyball tournament with a 9 a.m. match Thursday against Sharyland High, the defending District 31-5A champs and a Class 5A Sweet 16 participant last year.

McALLEN — When they first stepped onto the volleyball court at McAllen Memorial, they were dubbed the “Fab Four Freshmen.”

They did not let that moniker become just cliché.

Throughout the years, they have not only become close friends but played together on a variety of teams — from the Boys & Girls Club to travel ball and to their high school journey, which has taken them to the Sweet 16 once with eyes on reaching that — and more — again this season.

There’s no doubt about the major impact seniors Leah Garcia, Amare Hernandez, Madisyn Sosa and Gaby Torres have had on the Mustangs’ volleyball program as the Fab Four begins its “Final Four” high school tour as the volleyball season kicks off with scrimmages this weekend and tournaments and non-district games beginning next week. Memorial hosts McAllen High, McAllen Rowe and Sharyland beginning at 9 a.m. today.

All four of those players bring a different set of skills, knowledge and ability to a program where success has been a mainstay. The Mustangs have been to the Sweet 16, aka regional quarterfinals, twice during the first four years of head coach Ashley Doffing’s tenure and appeared there five years in a row immediately prior.

Hernandez is the biggest of the big hitters and has been considered among the best in the Valley ever since she was a freshman. Now she brings more power and athleticism, a big block, more height and, she said, improved defense. When the match is on the line, everyone knows the ball is going to her. Good luck stopping it.

“Defense is a very mental spot,” Hernandez said. “I was afraid of it and didn’t want to do it — if I don’t succeed at something, I don’t want to try it. This summer, I stepped out of my comfort zone; now I want to show everyone what I got. Now people will serve to me and I will actually pass it — I’m excited about that.”

Sosa is a human anomaly. Probably mistaken for a defensive specialist or libero for those who have never seen her play, the 5-foot-7 (she grew over the summer, she said) outside hitter takes off the gym floor like a supersonic jet, leaves plenty of air under her feet and has a massive swing. She uses nearly the same form for a powerfully devastating jump serve with tight and fast topspin that has become one of the Mustangs’ biggest weapons.

“Madisyn gets us hyped up before every match and during them,” Hernandez said. “She never lets us get down.”

Garcia is a game-changer. When she is playing at the top of her game, she’s nothing short of electrifying, hitting over, around and through defenders. She’s the one who will kill the ball at the 10-foot line, spark her team like no other and completely take over a match. When she’s on, there are few players a setter wants to get the ball to more than Garcia.

“I’ve known Leah for so many years,” Hernandez said. “We’ve all needed each other at times, and Leah holds a special place in my heart. To see her grow into this wonderful woman has been so amazing. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come and what we have ahead of us.”

Torres is smooth like silk and one of the most consistent setters in the Valley. She’s quiet but her results are loud, and she runs that big four offense like the maestro of a symphony. Errors are few and almost non-existent, and her volleyball IQ is immense. She’s the blast switch to the arsenal of hitters that surround her.

“Gaby has a composure and patience about her,” Hernandez said. “You can’t knock that from her. No matter how tight the game is, she will always stay composed.”

Outside pressure has been heavy since the four came onto the scene as freshmen. The expectations have been higher and more intense than what many young athletes face. Clearly, they’ve dealt with it in a positive fashion, winning since Day 1. Now, they’re looking for something more.

“We want to go to the Elite Eight. It’s something I’ll say right now, and hopefully can manifest that to come true,” Hernandez said. “We need to work together.”

“The key is getting to play together as a team this season,” Sosa added. “We have all the pieces, so we’re excited to do it again. People underestimated us when we were freshmen. There was a lot of pressure, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

“The season looks very promising and I can’t wait to do it all again, one last ride.”

[email protected]

Harlingen South head coach Debra Galvan summarized what Alexis Fonseca and twin sister Aliyah brought to the Hawks’ soccer team this past season.

“They just make things happen,” the first-year South head coach said. “They’re fast and smart, and we were able to use them in so many ways last year.”

Alexis scored 17 goals while playing mostly forward, but sometimes she moved to the midfield. Her blazing speed with or without the ball, ball control and the lungs of a cross country runner who never stopped running made her extremely dangerous.

Alexis Fonseca is The Brownsville Herald/Valley Morning Star All-Area Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Her sister captured the all-area defensive player nod (see her story inside). Both were juniors and return for one more season.

“There were a lot of ups last year — it was a very good season for us,” she said. “The downs were probably injuries, we had quite a few.”

Alexis strained her calf early in the season but returned. Still it nagged at times, especially at season’s end.

The Hawks also faced the unknown, competing against many new teams after dropping to Class 5A.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “We just decided to go in hard and did our best, and the season was a good one.”

Moving around from forward to center mid carried different tasks that Aliyah easily adjusted to. She said the biggest similarities were that both positions were offensive. The biggest difference came with awareness.

“You need to be aware of everything around you at all times in the midfield,” she said. “As a forward you just focus on what’s in front of you.”

At times, the twins’ magical connection showed off. During one match, the Hawks’ opponent had a goal kick that was retrieved by South and passed to Alexis, who was rocketing down the sideline.

“I drove it deep and crossed it, and she one-touched it to score. That was a beautiful thing,” she said. “I love playing with her — we’ve always been with each other, we know what each other likes and have good chemistry. It’s just cool to be on the same team.”

Last season, Alexis said there was more pressure being a co-captain along with Aliyah. She said the biggest thing was to bring up the team if anything happened, then added that luckily nothing really happened.

Now she and Aliyah are both preparing for the upcoming cross country season and Alexis said she is also working on some areas for next soccer season as teams look to replace the Hawks from the top of the District 32-5A mountain.

“I think I was faster last year and communicated better,” Alexis said. “But I want to get faster, communicate more and work on making my one-touches better. That’s so important for everything, improving that would be a good thing to do. If it’s a good one-touch, I can start fast right away.”

[email protected]

Offensive Player of the Year

Julianna Millin, McAllen High

This season, everyone knew who the Bulldogs’ Julianna Millin was.

Knowing her was one thing. Stopping her was on a whole different level.

There was no sophomore slump for the scoring machine as she led the Valley’s offensive juggernaut with 42 goals and 16 assists and has been named The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Offensive Player of the Year.

Those numbers not only accumulated during a season in which she often played one half as McHi jumped out to huge leads in many matches (plus missed two games), but they also came during a season in which defenses were more physical trying to lessen her threat. In response, she more than doubled her assists from her freshman year.

“I think we expected I would be man-marked a little bit more than last year, because they were expecting me more and knew my midfielders were going to get me the ball,” Millin said. “It was a matter of trying to find my role on the team and adjust to the different adversity that I was going to face this year.”

She adjusted well and once again shined under the biggest spotlights, whether against a district/city rival or in the postseason. In the playoffs, the sophomore sensation scored six goals and added five assists. She assisted on two game-winning goals during that span and played part in all three goals against Corpus Christi Veterans. It seemed the bigger the match, the greater her performance.

“It wasn’t just me, but a matter of my teammates being in the game. When you have four or five other girls who can score as proficiently as I can, it’s hard to mark everybody,” Millin said. “When you have to worry about Gabby (Gonzalez) or Milan (Diaz), then you’re not as aware of me in the background.”

Newcomer of the Year

Kennedy Kaiser, McAllen Memorial

One could forgive Kennedy Kaiser if she didn’t live up to the hype that began two or more years before she even stepped onto the McAllen Memorial campus.

However, she lived up to – and surpassed it. Kaiser has been named The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Newcomer of the Year.

To add to those growing expectations, the freshman phenom missed a good portion of the season, playing in just 13 of 18 district games and missing the preseason. When she finally played, the impact was felt immediately

“Going into the year not playing was tough. I always had the vision of myself being my best self and healthy but it was totally different,” Kaiser said. But it helped me as a player to have a different perspective and made me a lot tougher and more appreciative of the opportunities I’ve been given.”

Kaiser scored 30 goals in 13 district games and had 13 assists. She scored five more goals and added an assist in the playoffs.

“There was definitely pressure to perform,” said Kaiser, the daughter of Memorial head coach Matthew Kaiser. “I was feeling it going into my eighth grade summer. I was a little worried where I would fit in. Getting injured actually took some of the pressure off me a little bit and helped me get more mentally ready for the challenge.”

Her “scorpion kick” goal during the season was something that legends and legendary careers are made from. A pass came in behind Kaiser, she leaned forward and lifted her leg high behind her, like a scorpion tail, and hit the ball square, knocking it past a stunned keeper and sending Memorial teammates and fans into a frenzy.

“I didn’t really mean to do it on purpose, it was just instinct,” Kaiser said. “I was trying everything I could do to get it. It was quite the moment. I was like ‘did that just go in?’ It was the perfect time and place.”

Utility Player of the Year

Savannah Ruiz, McAllen High

Savannah Ruiz brought more than elite soccer skills to the field for the Bulldogs. She carried an unmatched and innate awareness; a unique ability to see not just what was going on within her vision, but also things there were no ways she could see.

“I don’t know where that came from, but I’d be dribbling and hear my teammates going,” Ruiz said. “I’d get a sense of where they are going to end up and where to put the ball and trust my instincts.”

For her performance in helping the Bulldogs reach the Class 5A regional championship, Ruiz is The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Utility Player of the Year.

The rising senior was tasked to be the quarterback of a traditionally high-powered offense, and she performed exquisitely with 24 goals and a team-leading — and school-record — 32 assists. More importantly, she was the cog that switched gears from defense to offense in a flash.

“Before the season I put in a lot of hours training and talking with coaches, and how they wanted me to be a key piece and be prepared to be a leader along with the captains,” Ruiz said. “I was excited but nervous.”

With goal scorers aplenty, Ruiz found defenses that were not sure who to cover in the new formations the Bulldogs inserted and she took advantage of it, pushing the ball deep into opposing territory looking for a goal — either from her or a teammate.

“It was confusing at first, a lot of times nobody would come to me. I wanted to be more confident on the ball and not afraid to make passes that might go wrong,” Ruiz said. “Bringing the ball up, I needed to get the ball to a forward, who were all heavily marked. I would get someone to come to me, and if they wouldn’t I would go myself.”

Defensive Player of the Year

Sofia Davila, McAllen Memorial

For four years, Sofia Davila played the same position for McAllen Memorial, roaming the defensive side of the field, prowling for intruders.

But she didn’t think this season would start off the way it did.

“It was a really rocky preseason, we didn’t have the best games or performances,” Davila said. “It took a lot of work to get where we were — mentally and physically to get the team together.”

The end result showed that massive improvement as Memorial captured a 20-5-1 record, finished second in a ready-for-battle District 31-5A and advanced to the UIL Class 5A Sweet 16. Along the way, that defense gave up the fewest goals in district – 13 in 18 games and marked off nine shutouts.

Davila’s stick-like-glue defense was a huge part of the Mustangs’ success, and she has been named The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Defensive Player of the Year.

“I felt like our first preseason game was a struggle and we lost really bad,” the senior said. “I felt like we could never lose like that again. It was a moment of reality, and I had to step up and become a better defender and not hit a low point like that again.”

Davila is an avid student of the YouTube video, “The Art of Defending.” It’s something she watches prior to every match as she prepares both mentally and physically for the challenges of a grueling district schedule, and more.

“Some of the girls in our district are really athletic, fast and feet taller and stronger than me, so I needed to be prepared for the season. I hit the weights and I’ll talk to myself and say, ‘I’m strong. I’m fast. I’m smart. I keep it positive to help ensure that I play the best game I can play.”

Goalkeeper of the Year

Karen Oviedo, McAllen Memorial

Karen Oviedo was born to be a goalkeeper.

The McAllen Memorial stats from the past season confirm that. The Mustangs compiled a 20-5-1 record with 13 shutouts. They allowed just 0.72 goals against during the 18-game district season and 1.03 goals per game for the entire season through playoffs.

Oviedo, a 5-foot-11 rising senior who rose to so many situations, is The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year.

Oviedo began playing soccer when she was 5 and said she was always the tallest girl in her school, making her an obvious choice for keeper.

“My dad helped me train. He helped build confidence in me since I was a little girl,” Oviedo said. “I love being a goalkeeper. It’s rewarding after every game.”

In a district like 31-5A, goalkeepers have plenty of opportunities to earn their keep. Teams such as McAllen High and Edinburg Vela shoot — and often score — at will.

Confidence stands next to talent and skill when it comes to goalkeeping. One needs to have a short-term memory. Oviedo said that it helped to have Sofia Davila roaming around on defense.

“She’s the best defender I’ve ever played with,” Oviedo said. “I’m not going to lie — she did most of the work. But look for if she’s busy and we will communicate a lot.”

Oviedo is also aggressive. She’s not going to let anyone come running up to her without a battle.

“I think I’m tough and when I’m playing in a game, I’m so into it,” Oviedo said. “I build a wall around me, this tough character when someone is coming at me, I’ll run up at them — maybe kick them or get near their face screaming. It builds my confidence and I feel pretty powerful.

“My teammates on the sidelines say they can always hear me and I sound scary.”

Sub-5A Player of the Year

Jayline Garcia, Hidalgo

As a sophomore, Hidalgo’s Jayline Garcia would get a ball and rocket toward the opponent’s goal, firing a shot whenever she got the slightest opening and from about anywhere on the field.

Her approach led the Pirates to a district title, and she led the Valley in overall scoring.

This year, as a junior, the offensive stalwart who was unshakably dependent, was faster, stronger and smarter.

She led the Valley in scoring again, with 61 goals, and is The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Sub-5A Player of the Year.

“This year was so much better,” said Garcia, who led the Pirates to the third round of the playoffs before falling to Alice. Garcia scored all three goals in that game for the Pirates. “Next year we want to progress more and get to at least that third round again. For me, I just want to do what I’ve always done.”

What she’s always done is score in a flurry of ways. Garcia tied Hidalgo’s program record as a sophomore with 43 goals and obliterated it this year as the Pirates won their seventh straight district title.

“I progressed with my shooting. I remember I would just shoot to shoot, but now I’m more accurate and more efficient,” she said. “I got way stronger and my shots were a lot stronger, and I feel I was faster. But, before, I would run everywhere, but this year I learned how to use it and I knew where my teammates were and when to run.”

Hidalgo loses a large number of players heading into next year, but Garcia is pretty confident that the team can continue being successful as she does what she’s always done — and score.

“We look good in summer league, and we’re looking good for next year,” she said.

Coach of the Year

Patrick Arney, McAllen High

While the McHi girls soccer team won its eighth straight district title and once again went farther than any other Valley team in the playoffs, not everything was the same.

“We radically changed our formation from what we did the last year,” head coach Patrick Arney said. “We threw in a lot of stuff the girls weren’t sure of at the beginning.”

By the end, however, the Bulldogs had won 21 straight matches and ended the season with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to powerhouse Smithson Valley in the regional final.

Their performance surpassed expectations, and Arney is The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.

“We lost six quality players from the year before … who does that?” Arney said. “They believed in the process and what we were doing, the parents created a great culture and the coaches (Juan Lopez and Michael Smith) helped run a great program.”

The Bulldogs finished the season 23-2-2, their only other loss coming to city rival McAllen Rowe during the district opener.

“That loss really didn’t affect us,” Arney said. “We dominated the stats. (Rowe) had two goals and only three shots. It was just one of those things. It was a growing experience — here’s what we did wrong, now let’s grow from that.

That was their last loss until the Elite Eight. McHi scored 133 goals and allowed just 20 for the season.

“With the ability and talent the girls had, I wouldn’t be a good coach if I didn’t look at different things,” Arney said. “We wanted the girls to be able to move, to look at all the options.

“Sometimes we took a little more time to see what’s going on, being methodical. But they ran a lot on emotion and they were very smart. Their soccer intelligence is way up there, and they could explain why we were doing the things we were. That’s special.”

The Monitor’s All Area Girls Soccer Team

Yhoalibeth Alvarez, Sharyland High; Adriana Balzadua, Donna North; Natalia Cortez, Edinburg Vela; Milan Diaz, McAllen High; Maisen Dubrule, McAllen High; Debrina Garcia, McAllen Rowe; Camila Gil, McAllen Rowe; Mia Mata, McAllen Rowe; Valerie Morales, La Joya Palmview; Nayla Pena, Edinburg Vela; Camila Southerst, Mission Veterans

[email protected]

McALLEN — Ayloni Garcia calls it her “magic.”

It’s that time during a soccer match when you see her, then you don’t. It leaves defenders puzzled, often times looking like renditions of the old Keystone Cops, and concludes with the ball somehow reappearing in the back of the net — Harry Houdini or David Blaine style.

After a season with a whopping 59 goals and 34 assists (while missing four district games), the McAllen Rowe star has earned The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

“Pound for pound, Ayloni is the most talented player in the RGV,” Rowe head coach John Martinez said. “She’s easily the best player I have coached in 16 years at Rowe.”

Garcia began her high school career at Mission High, earning newcomer of the year accolades. She transferred after that year to Rowe, where she had to sit out from varsity due to the UIL 365-day rule. In her two seasons on varsity at Rowe, she scored 94 goals, breaking the school record of 86 previously held by Martinez’s younger sister.

But her goal-scoring doesn’t tell the entire story of her value for the Warriors. Often times she was marked by one or two players all over the pitch, then had to face the keeper and maybe another defender as she regularly left the first two behind.

In the second round of the playoffs against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, after scoring both goals in a 2-1 overtime victory over Harlingen South, Garcia received the ball downfield, stopped and started again on a dime, crossed over to ditch her second defender and scored on a quick left foot shot that clinched a thrilling 5-4 victory and sent the Warriors to a third-round match against city rival McAllen High.

“Those playoff games were crazy,” Garcia said. “I told my team every game that as a senior I am going to leave everything on the field. This is the game I love to play and I’m going to give them hell, even if we were down, it wasn’t over.”

Her second goal was SportsCenter-esque as a pair of defenders swarmed her.

“First, Camila (Gil) sent me the ball but the defender was actually in front of me and got the ball first,” Garcia said. “I gave the girl a push — I know I did, but I really wanted it. Then the second defender came at me. I did my magic, turned and shot, then saw it in the back of the net.”

“Those Flour Bluff goals were probably the most meaningful,” Martinez said. “It was the game-winner and the way she did it. It sealed that victory.”

Defenses were all over Garcia, several of them knowing they couldn’t match her step for step, so often times it would turn physical.

“Defenders would see me and think, ‘She’s small, I can take her,’ so I would get shoved around and took a couple of hits,” Garcia said. After every game, every hit would hurt and I had to ice down, take ice baths with bruises and cuts, but I knew I left everything on those fields.”

The tenacious star will take her talents to the Division I level next year, signing her National Letter of Intent to play at UTRGV.

“It’s going to be tougher because I’m really small and a lot of coaches doubted me, but it made me work harder,” she said. “I knew I wanted to play at the next level and would have to put in more work, extra work. And I did it.”

[email protected]

McALLEN — The hotter than usual temperatures that El Nino has caused this summer may have kept a lot of people indoors or in the water.

But hunting season is around the corner and avid outdoors adventurers showed plenty of enthusiasm Thursday during the opening day of the 32nd annual Texas Hunters and Sportsman’s Expo at the McAllen Convention Center.

Vendors offering new products, ranch stays, hunting excursions, fishing and camping gear and more greeted potential customers and impressed the throngs who are getting ready for some cooler weather, the fall and opportunities to bag a trophy and enjoy the outdoors.

“It’s business as usual. In fact, it’s picked up,” said Rick Bailey and Eric Garza, owners of the Santa Cruz Ranch, a high-fenced destination located west of McCook. “But with El Nino and the high pressure we’ve had with temperatures over 114 degrees and the lack of rain, we don’t have our protein producing trees producing our protein to feed the animals, so our protein bill goes up even though you would think it would go down because they are drinking more in the summer and eating less, but it’s actually the opposite.

“I guess that’s because they start the rut and have other things on their minds.”

The ranch sells hunts and is home to a 17,000-square-foot lodge with accommodations galore. There’s a movie theater, weight room and many more amenities for hunters and visitors. Guests will enjoy the daytime hours and be ready for the nighttime hunts.

“Weather affects the hunters more than the animals,” Garza said. “The animals have acclimated to the South Texas weather and will stay stay bedded down most of the day, then sometimes get up and have some water then go bed down again til late evening. Then they’re up all night long once the temperature has dropped.

“Most of those species, even though the animals have been born in Texas or on our ranch, the species are from other hot areas like India and Pakistan.”

The owners added that the business didn’t slow during the COVID-19 pandemic as people were looking for opportunities to get out of the house, whatever the cost.

“They couldn’t do other things where a lot of people would normally go, so a couple of hunters, or three or four, would come out and everyone felt secure. They could leisurely enjoy the day, go fishing on the pond, do whatever,” Bailey said. “When people hunt, they want to be comfortable and we do everything we can to make sure they have a great experience because there are so many ranches in Texas where they can hunt. For us. it’s about the ambiance, the personality of this place. They leave as family.”

The show continues from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and concludes from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.