McALLEN — After the first set between McAllen Rowe and McAllen High was over and the visiting Warriors claimed a convincing 25-13 victory, McHi head coach Paula Dodge knew it could be a quick night if her team’s defense didn’t start playing better.

The defense did precisely that, and there was nothing quick about the next three sets as the Bulldogs rallied to a 13-25, 25-23, 28-26, 25-23 victory over the Warriors to remain on course to capture the fourth and final playoff berth in their district.

The Bulldogs have four matches in the next five days, needing to win at least three to have a shot at the playoffs. The Bulldogs came into the day with a 3-6 record after having to forfeit four matches due to an ineligible player. After spending two weeks in COVID-19 quarantine, the team now has four remaining regular-season matches — today against PSJA Memorial, Saturday at Valley View, Monday at Sharyland Pioneer and Tuesday against visiting Sharyland High.

After Thursday’s slow start, Olivia Tite and the offense came alive. Tite led McHi with 20 kills, while Haidee Moore and Celina Saenz each contributed 14 kills. Madison Helmcamp, who was recognized for breaking the school’s all-time assist record, held by her sister, was relentless in getting to every pass to set up the Bulldogs’ offensive attack. The senior finished the night with 52 assists. Fellow senior Audrey Zamora was also recognized for setting the new career mark for digs and added a team-high 22 digs for a defense that turned the match around after Rowe attacked with authority and success in the first set.

“We just needed to get back to playing the fundamentals,” Dodge said. “We needed better defense, better passing and better communicating.”

The better defense also led to a much better offense. Still, the teams battled over the next three sets to 23 ties, and several lead changes, highlighted by the crucial third set, tied one set apiece. In that set, the teams tied at every point from 20 to 26, both teams realizing the criticality of the third set and what the losing team would have to overcome down two sets to one. McHi took a 27-26 advantage on a Rowe attack error and then Tite collected a kill down the line to end the extended set.

It looked as if the fourth set would be the exact opposite as the Bulldogs ran out to a 10-5 lead. But after the first set, nothing else came easy. Rowe came roaring back with an 11-2 run behind the attacks of sophomore Mia Mata and Anna Honrubia and several point-saving defensive plays from Honrubia, Vanessa Morales and Mata.

McHi in return went on an 8-4 run to tie it at 20. Tite hammered away for three kills, Saenz for two and Tite combined with Moore for a defining-moment double block of Mata and the set was tied at 20-20.

Moore said she made a minor shift in her defense at the net. It had a profound impact.

“I noticed they were hitting to my right a lot, so I knew I needed to adjust,” Moore said. “I let the other hitters know that they were going line. That first set I think we went in with some nerves. It seems like we do that with all the McAllen teams.”

Honrubia led McAllen Rowe with 20 kills, while Mata added 15. Morales had 34 assists to lead the Warriors and Alexa Muñoz had a strong defensive game with 11 blocks.

McAllen Memorial clinched the District 31-5A title earlier this week and is 13-0 with one match remaining. Sharyland Pioneer is 7-3, while McAllen Rowe is 5-4, with two victories over Pioneer. Rowe has four matches remaining — three, however, are expected to be forfeit victories for Rowe due to COVID-19 quarantines, which would place the Warriors at 8-4 with one game remaining. Sharyland Pioneer still has matches with McAllen Memorial, Pioneer and Valley View.

Helmcamp was clearly the floor general Thursday for McHi, running down every pass and finding ways to get good sets off to a larger number of hitters than through most of the season. She said that the team being in condition was a huge benefit in a match that lasted as long as a five-setter, just about two hours.

“In practice we run so many liners and we end with 30 minutes of conditioning,” Helmcamp said. “Coach wants us prepared for five sets. This one felt like it went five sets.”

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PHARR — Following PSJA High’s three-set win over Edinburg High on Tuesday night, Edinburg head coach Deanna Dominguez walked over to PSJA head coach Caroline Cuellar and basically summarized the District 31-6A matchup in five words.

“Kaylah really wanted it tonight,” Dominguez said.

PSJA middle hitter/blocker Kaylah Hernandez, a junior, whose attacks at the net were just as brutal as some of her blocks, helped lead the Bears to a 30-28, 25-15, 26-24 win over the Bobcats at PSJA North, where both teams were informed the game was being played just 90 minutes beforehand after PSJA High had to shut down due to COVID-19 concerns.

The win moved PSJA into a tie for third place with Edinburg in District 31-6A at 9-4 with one match remaining for both teams before the playoffs. The win also clinched a postseason berth for the Bears. The Bobcats had already qualified.

Cuellar, in her second year at the PSJA helm, said the team took a break from practice Monday to study film.

“We really broke down about two full games of (Edinburg),” Cuellar said. “Our girls have finally bought into the structure and processes we run as a program, and now they know the girls’ tendencies. Our defense knows every girl on the court, our hitters know them, too.”

Hernandez finished the night with eight kills and three blocks, two of them solo blocks against Edinburg High standout middle Jazmin Cuellar. Most of Hernandez’s impact came in the final two sets.

“Kaylah has matured since the beginning of the season and we’ve worked all season on the mental game,” said Cuellar, whose team began district play with two losses but has since gone 9-2. “She would get blocked and just down. Now she’s turning around and asking her teammates or myself what’s open or what else she could do to be a threat. She’s overcome a lot to get here.”

Jumairy Campos and Johanna Montelongo were also swinging at full power. Campos led the team with 14 kills, while Montelongo added 12 as the Bears won the battle of attacks.

That, however, was set up by a defense led by libero Talia Gomez, who racked up 52 digs. More importantly, most of those digs were sent like clockwork to setter Alexa Carranza or Victoria Gonzalez, creating many opportunities for PSJA’s hitters to attack time and again.

“The first time we played them I noticed we were scared on defense,” Cuellar said. “You’re never gonna get the set you want if the ball’s not passed correctly and we knew that Edinburg likes to target players on the serve receive. I told them, if we’re not ready, we’re gonna blow the game. Whoever was in the back row today was ready and they came through.”

Jazmin Cuellar, a junior, has been overpowering much of the time this season and during one stretch in the second set it looked as if the Bobcats had found a rhythm, going on a 5-0 run to turn a 20-9 deficit to 20-13. Cueller had three kills during that run and Mia Dominguez added another. PSJA closed it out, however, with a 5-2 run behind a Montelongo kill and a pair of kills from Campos.

Jazmin Cuellar again had a big night, leading the Bobcats with 12 kills and six blocks.

“Jazmin Cuellar looks like she’s up for hitter of the year in our district,” Coach Cuellar said. “She’s got a hot hand and she’s dominant. Whatever they set her and wherever, she’s putting it away. We knew if we could keep No. 7 off the court we would need to run up the score then. When she was on the court we needed to break it right away, rotate and get her off because of how dominant a hitter she is.”

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Harlingen High won the UIL Region 4-6A Cross Country meet Tuesday morning at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and five other Valley runners advanced to the state meet in Round Rock in two weeks.

PSJA North junior Hector Solis was the highest-placing runner, boy or girl, grabbing third place in 16 minutes, 4.97 seconds, just 10 seconds behind winner Taj Lee from San Antonio Johnson and four seconds away from second-place finisher Skyler Roper. Solis is the second boy runner from the PSJA school district to finish in the top three at regionals this week. PSJA Memorial’s Willams Macias finished second during the 5A meet on Monday, less than a second from claiming his second straight regional title.

Harlingen High placed two runners in the top 15. Junior Geovany Cisneros notched ninth place in 16:17.97 while senior Ivan Montante was 14th in 16:31.68.

Juniors John Abrego, of Brownsville Hanna, and Rogelio Aguirre, of Mission High, also qualified for state, crossing the finish line in 12th and 15th place, respectively. The top three teams advance along with the top 10 runners not on those teams.

Junior Dianett Garcia captured seventh place in the girls’ race with a time of 19:23.17 and will be joined by Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb, who came in ninth in 19:28.92.

Edinburg High junior Mia Guillen, who was making her second trip to the regionals after missing last year due to her successful battle with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma, finished 36th out of the 142 runners in today’s competition, with a time of 20:38.68. Guillen finished 88th at the regional meet as a freshman.

Check back later today for more on this story.

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Results from the UIL Region 4-6A Cross Country Championships. Top three teams advance and the top 10 runners not on those teams.

BOYS

Team results

1. Harlingen High 107; 2. Round Rock 119; 3. San Antonio Johnson 123; 4. Austin Vandergrift 130; 5. Eagle Pass 150; 6. New Braunfels 165; 7. Austin Lake Travis 172; 8. San Antonio Brandeis 175; 9. Donna North 175; 10. Laredo Alexander 184; 11. Cibolo Steele 207; 12. Buda Hays 220; 13. San Antonio Holmes 306; 14. Edinburg Economedes 392; 15. Edinburg Vela 421; 16. San Antonio Brennan 453.

Individuals (all qualifiers for state meet)

1. Taj Lee, San Antonio Johnson, 15:54.22; 2. Skylar Roper, San Antonio Brandeis, 16:00.33; 3. Hector Solis, PSJA North, 16:04.97; 4. Michael Herrera, San Antonio Holmes, 16:08.67; 5. Kevin Sanchez, Austin Vandergrift, 16:10.51; 6. Damon Gutierrez, San Antonio Jay, 16:14.20; 7. Sebastian Martinez, Round Rock, 16:15.40; 8. Will Powers, Austin High, 16:16.22; 9. Geovany Cisneros, Harlingen High, 16:17.97; 10. Pablo Lomeli Lluis, Round Rock Westwood, 16:19.48; 11. Tate Underwood, San Antonio Johnson, 16:20.79; 12. John Abrego, Brownsville Hanna, 16:20.89; 13. Rogelio Aguirre, Mission High, 16:26.97; 14. Ivan Montante, Harlingen High, 16:31.68; 15. Ivan Ward, Austin Lake Travis, 16:36.54;

GIRLS

Team results

1. Austin Vandergrift 50; 2. Smithson Valley 91; 3. New Braunfels 114; 4. Round Rock 138; 5. Buda Hays 155; 6. AustinWestlake 209; 7. Del Rio 218; 8. Laredo United 220; 9. Edinburg Economedes 237; 10. San Antonio Churchill 255; 11. San Antonio Warren 262; 12. Harlingen South 264; 13. Harlingen High 303; 14. San Antonio O’Connor 314; 15. San Antonio Johnson 321; 16. Edinburg North 445.

Individuals (all qualifiers for state)

1. Amalie Mills, Smithson Valley 18:28.39; 2. Kennedy Fontenot, New Braunfels, 18:42.27; 3. Sara Scott, Smithson Valley, 18:52.63; 4. Emma Saia, AustinVandergrift, 18:59.67; 5. Emerson Francis, San Antonio Brandeis, 19:14.58; 6. Kellis Hein, Round Rock, 19:18.42; 7. Dianett Garcia, Edinburg Economedes, 19:23.17; 8. Gemma Goddard, Austin Vandergrift, 19:26; 9. Amity Ebarb, Weslaco High, 19:28.92; 10. Deepti Choudhury, Round Rock Westwood, 19:29.00; 11. Jordan Ledington, Round Rock Cedar Ridge, 19:29.20; 12. Abigail Parra, Buda Hats, 19:34.52; 13. Sanai Robinson, San Antonio Warren, 19:34.52; 14. Valerie Garcia, Laredo United, 19:40.55; 15. Ozlynn Urias, Del Rio, 19:44.15.

Omar De La Rosa was part of the last McAllen High team to advance to the UIL cross-country state meet – in 1975.

It was fitting he was the judge presiding over the McAllen High boys cross-country team securing its return to the UIL Class 5A state meet Monday, ending a 45-year drought.

“I spoke with Omar De La Rosa and he said it was awesome to see McHi is back and that we are going to state,” McHi head coach Luis Cantu said. “He was on that team and it just made it more special.”

The 1975 McHi cross-country team won regionals and finished second overall at the state meet.

Senior Hunter Herrera and senior Ismael “Cinco” Hernandez finished 12th and 13th, respectively, just 0.64 second apart as the Bulldogs placed all five qualifying runners in the top 50 to score 129 points and claim third place — the final team position to advance — during Monday morning’s UIL Region IV-5A Cross-Country Championships at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Boerne Champion won the meet with 52 points and four of its five runners placed in the top 15.

Cedar Park was second with 116 points.

“The kids have worked hard with the pandemic. Sure, we had our ups and downs. The kids would get restless at home, and we had a late start with practice, but they put the work in by themselves,” said Cantu, in his fifth year at the Bulldogs’ helm. “It’s an honor to represent McHi and get back to state for our school and community. It feels really good and we’ll see what we can do and represent one more time. We’ll press hard to see if we can get on the podium.

Foster Wilfong, of Boerne Champion, narrowly edged out PSJA Memorial’s Williams Macias by 0.68 second to capture the individual title. Macias, the defending region champion, took second and will once again be heading to the state meet.

The top three teams, and top 10 individuals not on those teams, advance. The Valley will be sending six individual boys to the meet. Those advancing individually to state are Macias (second), Donna High’s Kevin Hernandez (fourth), Rio Grande City’s Alex Canales (fifth), Sharyland Pioneer’s Cesar Ramirez (sixth), Donna High’s Erick Chavez Carreon (eighth) and Weslaco East’s Rene Tamez (16th).

Teams from McAllen High (third), Sharyland Pioneer (fifth), Donna High (eighth), Mission Veterans (12th), and Edcouch-Elsa (16th) represented the Valley at Monday’s regional boys meet.

Junior Danielle Salinas finished seventh for Sharyland High in 19:17.11 to advance. Also advancing was teammate, Daylah Vega, who finished 19th, and La Joya Palmview’s Destiny Quintanilla, placing 27th. Teams from Sharyland High (fifth), Brownsville Veterans (eighth), McAllen Rowe (ninth), Edcouch-Elsa (13th), Mission Veterans (15th), and Roma (16th) all represented the Valley at Monday’s regional girls meet.

“The whole Valley represented very well today, especially with the late start,” Cantu said. “I’m super proud of what the Valley has done. It’s just awesome to see.”

The UIL State Cross-Country Championship will be held Nov. 23 at Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock.

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Results from the UIL Region 4-5A Cross Country Championships. Top three teams advance and the top 10 runners not on those teams.

BOYS
Team results
1. Boerne Champion 52; 2. Cedar Park 116; 3. McAllen High 129; 4. Medina Valley 141; 5. Sharyland Pioneer 170; 6. Corpus Christi Carroll 176; 7. San Antonio Jefferson 180; 8. DonnaHigh 195; 9. Gregory Portland 200; 10. Liberty Hill 213; 11. Comal Canyon 234; 12. Mission Veterans 306; 13. San Antonio Harlandale 320; 14. Laredo Martin 358; 15. San Antonio Brackenridge 397; 16. Edcouch-Elsa 428

Individual results (qualifiers for state meet)
1. Foster Wilfong, Boerne Champion, 15:50.16; 2. Williams Macias, PSJA Memorial, 15:50.84; 3. Caleb Lopez, Dripping Springs, 15:57.39; 4. Kevin Hernandez, Donna High, 16:10.49; 5. Alex Canales, Rio Grande City, 16:13.55; 6. Cesar Ramirez, Sharyland Pioneer, 16:1.12; 7. Ethan Feinstein, San Antonio Alamo Heights, 16:17.63; 8. Erick Chavez Carreon, Donna High, 16:21.31, 27; 9. Devin Duran, Boerne Champion, 16:23.41; 10. Cody Fountain, Gregory-Portland, 16:25.39; 11. Chris Martinezm Boerne Champion, 16:28.65; 12. Hunter Herrera, McAllen High, 16:31.27; 13. Ismael Hernandez, McAllen High, 16:31.91; 14. Jack Woods, Cedar Park, 16:33.92; 15. Josiah Alvarado, San Antonio Jefferson, 16:34.91; 16. Rene Tamez, Weslaco East, 16:38.91

GIRLS
Team results
1. Dripping Springs 44; 2. Boerne Champion 60; 3. Georgetown High, 63: 4. Cedar Park 112; 5. Sharyland High 115; 6. Medina Valley, 212; 7. Corpus Christi Carroll 266; 8. Brownsville Veterans 272; 9. McAllen Rowe 275; 10. San Antonio Brackenridge 289; 11. San Antonio Jefferson 292; 12. Gregory-Portland 298; 13. Edcouch-Elsa 326; 14. San Antonio Harlandale 376; 15. Mission Veterans 393; 16. Roma 402.

Individuals (all qualifiers for state meet)
1. Isabel Conde De Frankenburg, Cedar Park, 17:51.84; 2. Anastacia Gonzales, Boerne Champion, 18:49.26; 3. Maddie Livingston, Dripping Springs, 18:58.59; 4. Mckenzie Bailey, Georgetown High 19:02.24; 5. Karsten Bobb, Dripping Springs, 19:03.60; 6. Kate Williams, Boerne Champion, 19:06.51; 7. Danielle Salinas, Sharyland High, 19:17.11; 8. Kate Ginther, Dripping Springs, 19:29.42; 9. Molly Breuer, Boerne Champion, 19:36.00; 10. Dennie Decker, Georgetown High, 19:36.53; 11. Avery Hill, Georgetown High, 19:38.35; 12. Marleena Mickel, Dripping Springs 19:47.85; 13. Jaya Coats, Leander High, 19:48.96; 14. Zoe Seaman-Gregory, Cedar Park, 19:48.96; 15. Ava Sieckman, Georgetown High, 20:02.00; 16. Anika Cuff, Gregory-Portland, 20:02.35; 17. Ayanna Donwerth, Liberty Hill, 20:06.26; 18. Carolina Russey, Dripping Springs, 20:07.77; 19. Daylah Vega, Sharyland High, 20:12.57; 20. Jesse Bookbinder, Dripping Springs, 20:15.36; 21. Madison Tafoya, Dripping Springs, 20:16.10; 22. Macy Livingston, Medina Valley, 20:17.48; 23. Josey Whitaker, Boerne Champion, 20:21.85; 24. Ava Rideout, Boerne Champion, 20:24.00; 25. Grace Flores, Boerne Champion, 20:24.35; 26. Jacqui Spencer, Georgetown High, 20:28.60; 27. Destiny Quintanilla, La Joya Palmview, 20:28.84; 28. Kyra Gaddy, Hays Johnson High School, 20:31.90

McALLEN — McAllen Memorial’s Jocelyn Fernandez voice could be heard in the Mustangs’ huddle before the beginning of their fourth set against McAllen High, down two sets to one.

“Come on, we have to start out better,” the senior middle-hitter/blocker said. “We have to start strong and not have to come from behind.”

After winning that fourth set to force a fifth and deciding set between the two city rivals, her teammates took the motivational words to heart, powering out to a 10-0 lead en route to a dominant 15-3 performance to claim a 25-16, 23-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-3 win and take over sole possession of first place in District 31-5A on Saturday at the McAllen Memorial gymnasium.

“If we start strong, it gets the momentum going for the whole set, so I think it’s really important to come together in the beginning of the set,” Fernandez said. “If we do that early and if we do make mistakes later in the set, we are fine. We did that in the fifth set.”

The game was supposed to be a battle of the two remaining teams in the district with one loss apiece.

McHi was 5-1 prior to a two-week coronavirus quarantine. When the team returned, it learned it had to forfeit four of those wins due to playing an ineligible player. The Bulldogs came into the match at 1-5 (2-5 counting a forfeit by Valley View, which forfeited all their games through the first round of the district season.).

The win improved Memorial to 10-0 on the season. It had one loss coming to McHi, which was reversed into a Memorial win due to the forfeits. McAllen Rowe is in second place with two losses, following its second win over Sharyland Pioneer on Saturday, as Pioneer sits in third place with three losses. McHi still has to face Pioneer and Rowe, each one more time.

The Mustangs left no doubt in the final set. Freshmen Leah Garcia and Amare Hernandez opened the 10-0 run with a pair of kills, and seniors Natalie Silva and Eliane Silberman combined for three kills and two blocks on the back end of that defining run of a match that took more than two hours to complete.

Memorial has four freshmen who have made a huge impact this season.

“They do a lot for us,” Silva said about the team’s freshmen. “They give us a breath of fresh air and they are nothing like we have ever seen. They have so much talent at such a young age. They give us so much confidence and they want a spot on this team. We are so proud of them.”

Despite an impressive Mustangs performance led by relentless attacks, McHi hung around long enough to force the fifth set. Its scrappy play, led by libero Audrey Zamora and setter Madison Helmcamp, helped set up its offense. The Bulldogs also scored several points hitting into, or around, the Memorial double blocks, often times with balls going off of the outside parts of the block and away from, or out of the reach of, the back-row defenders. But the onslaught of attacks and a tough-blocking wall — one that during one rally sent three straight Celina Saenz kill attempts straight back to the McHi side — was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.

“We know as a blocker our job is to get a touch on it and we rely on the back row to finish it off,” Silva said. “It was just a little bit of unluckiness, not being in the right place at the right time, but we finished it in the end and we couldn’t be happier.”

The tough wall of blockers forced McHi to attempt more tips and focus more on accuracy and finding holes in the Memorial defense. It worked occasionally, but when it didn’t, it more often than not set Memorial up for another shot at a blistering attack.

“We knew that the defense would have to push us through,” Fernandez said. “We saw them (McHi). They kept tipping and kept tipping. We need to be consistent with getting those tips and putting it away quickly after that.”

“This is them working together and it truly is teamwork at its finest,” McAllen Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing said. “We should practice defending tips a lot more, but these girls don’t tip. The first set was all them and then to see them snap out of it after losing two sets shows their maturity and I’m excited to see what else these girls will do.

Four players finished with double digit attacks for McAllen Memorial led by Hernandez with 16, Garcia and Fernandez with 12 each and Silva with 10. Hernandez added 10 kills in the Mustangs’ afternoon win over Valley View, improving their record to 11-0 with three matches remaining — against McAllen Rowe on Tuesday, PSJA Memorial on Thursday and Sharyland Pioneer on Saturday. McHi defeated PSJA Southwest in its afternoon contest to improve to 3-6, still in the race to capture the fourth and final postseason spot.

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Walking into the territory belonging to a heated cross-town rivalry — especially one with a lot of tradition — can be intimidating, especially for a young team.

It’s another area where senior leadership can be so crucial. That showed Thursday as McAllen Memorial claimed a 25-16, 25-21, 25-8 sweep over McAllen Rowe in District 31-5A volleyball at the Mcallen Rowe gymnasium. It was the first match back for Rowe after spending two weeks in quarantine.

The win pushes Memorial to a 7-1 record, best in the district. McAllen High, McAllen Rowe, Sharyland High and Sharyland Pioneer are all fighting for a playoff position. This was the first of two meetings between the two city rivals and Memorial continues its version of “Rivalry Week” on Saturday as the Mustangs play host to McHi. The Bulldogs defeated the Mustangs at McHi in four sets earlier this season.

Memorial’s team runs the gamut when it comes to age and experience with four seniors and four freshmen getting plenty of playing time, and making huge contributions.

“When the seniors step up, everyone else seems to fall in line. It’s so important,” McAllen Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing said. “When that happens, the freshmen are eager to please.”

Memorial needed to defeat Rowe in the final regular-season match last year to end up as co-district champions with McHi. Instead, Rowe pulled off the win.

This was the first meeting since that regular-season finale.

“The girls were excited. It’s a cross-town rival and you always get excited for this type of game and the intensity and you never take it for granted,” said Doffing, in her second season at the Memorial helm. “Winning the first set doesn’t mean anything.”

Memorial trailed in the second set before rallying for the 25-21 win. The match took just a little more than an hour.

“The fact that we were able to come together for that win shows the maturity in the team,” Doffing said. “It’s showing that we are working and doing things right and preparing for the postseason. I’m really excited for the girls.

“There may not be a lot of people at games because of the coronavirus, but walking into a McHi or a Rowe gym is always intimidating.”

Senior Natalie Silva helped lead the team and rarely came off the court, playing all the way around in the rotation. She ended the night with eight kills, 10 digs and five serve receives.

“I told her that in the back row she was going to be the tallest one back there,” Doffing said. “She was going to be the target. She stepped up to that challenge.”

Sophomore Mia Mata led the Warriors with 10 kills, six assists, eights digs and one block. Senior Anna Honorubia had nine kills, one assist, 12 digs, three blocks and the team’s only service ace.

Freshmen Amare Hernandez led the team with nine kills, while Madisyn Sosa, another freshman, added eight kills and two digs. Senior libero Cori Talamantez led the Mustangs defensively with 12 digs and setter Jackie Treviño had 17 assists and a pair of aces.

“I’m very competitive and these girls are competitive and we need to play with intensity all the time,” Doffing said. “It’s a short season so we need to prepare for the postseason.”

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ELSA — Endiya Devoe and Vida Ybarra play opposites in Edcouch-Elsa’s volleyball rotation.

That means one of the two lethal hitters is always in the front row.

That was the only thing “opposite” for the two Yellow Jackets players, who similarly attacked at every opportunity and lifted Edcouch-Elsa to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 sweep over Donna High in a District 32-5A battle of previous unbeatens Tuesday. The win lifts E-E to 3-0 in its zone, while Donna High falls to 2-1.

At the end of the regular season, the top team in the district’s West Zone (Donna High, Edcouch-Elsa, Mercedes, Weslaco East) will play the top zone in the East Zone (Brownsville Lopez, Brownsville Pace, Brownsville Porter, Brownsville Veterans), where the winner will take the top seed for the playoffs and the loser will claim the second seed.

Devoe, a senior, led E-E with 19 kills, while Ybarra added 17 kills, 14 assists and 11 digs. But it didn’t start that way. Donna led 18-14 in the first set, using a variety of off-tempo style pushes, bumps and tips to keep E-E off balance, chasing balls to the corners and unable to gain momentum with their attacking play.

The Jackets went on an 11-3 run the remainder of the first set and Ybarra found her groove in a 6-0 mini-run in which she blasted three straight kills, including two down the line, then attacked with an aggressive bump, also finding a wide open space down the line and suddenly 20-18 lead. She added another kill, while Madi Treviño also got into the act with a kill and a block and E-E claimed the first set.

“When I started getting those hits I felt I was in the game. I felt amazing. I was so shocked, even at myself,” Ybarra said. “At first I was hitting crosscourt, but Coach kept saying ‘go line’ and it was open, so I kept going line.”

Devoe got into the action in the second set, drilling back-to-back balls that split the back row and turned an 8-8 tie into a 10-8 lead. The Yellow Jackets started to slowly pull away before pulling ahead 16-11 behind a Sara Sumbillo ace and two serve reception errors.

“I thought we attacked more. It was good to see,” E-E head coach Gloria Treviño said. “The girls are coming around. They (Donna) really tried to tip against us and push balls to the corners, so we adjusted and pushed the girls back a little and it worked. We are able to attack the way we want to.”

When Donna High wasn’t on the attack or pushing the ball to the corners looking for openings, it found some effective tips to the middle of the court. Libero Ari Cavazos, however, adjusted and led the defensive effort to close that middle gap for most of the match, giving Donna High few openings to shoot for. Cavazos sprawled on several occasions, completely stretched out to keep rallies alive for the Jackets and ended with a match high 24 digs.

Donna High’s Brianna Caldwell led the Bravettes with nine kills, while Ruby Villalobos had six kills, nine assists and eight digs.

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The season of firsts continues for the Pharr Vanguard volleyball team.

The Spartans play in the UIL Class 3A area round at 6:30 tonight against Santa Gertrudis Academy at Falfurrias High School. Vanguard defeated Brownsville Riviera in the bi-district round, capturing a 25-21, 25-17, 25-17 sweep.

It was the first playoff victory in school history for Vanguard, which claimed its first district championship this season, in just its third year of UIL competition.

“There was a lot of excitement for that playoff match,” head coach David Guzman said. “We were finally allowed to have fans there and it was a different atmosphere. I reminded the girls that they had played in this atmosphere before, just not this year.”

Sophomore Chloe De La Rosa had a breakout game, recording three kills to go with four aces, 20 service points and 22 digs — all team highs.

“We got off a great start, leading 4-0 but then had an error and they started building a lead against us,” Guzman said.

Riviera led 19-14 before Guzman took a timeout to not only get his team to regroup but to also ice the Riviera squad. The timeout was effective on both fronts.

“They were a great team but our back row was on fire, especially after we won that first set,” Guzman said. “They were digging everything and the passes were on target. When the passes are on target if helps the sets be on target and then we can attack more.”

The Spartans snuck into the playoffs last year, winning the final regular-season match to clinch the fourth seed before being eliminated in the first round. This time, however, Guzman said the senior-heavy squad is showing what they gained from last year’s experience.

“The goal is to come out and do what we’ve done all season,” he said. “We’re just building a program and to come out and win the district title and then winning the bi-district round is a thrilling thing to accomplish. The girls, especially the seniors, know that it’s now or never.”

Lyford and North Mission also advanced from District 31-3A. Perennial 3A power Brownsville Jubilee was the only team which defeated a 31-3A team. Jubilee plays today against Orange Grove, also in Falfurrias. The winner of that match will play the winner of Vanguard and Santa Gertrudis. Time, date and site will be determined after both matches have been completed.

“We played Jubilee last year when we were in the same district,” Guzman said. “They are a powerhouse. Both of those teams are powerhouses. But it would be a great thing to have two of our Valley teams playing in the Sweet 16.

“First, we have to take care of what we need to take care of. They (Santa Gertrudis) are a very good team but we have faced that good caliber of a team before. It comes down to who is going to want it more.”

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There is dominance.

Then there is the Sharyland High girls cross-country team, one step above dominant.

The Rattlers won their third straight district title led by junior Danielle Salinas, who crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, 30.20 seconds, 37 seconds ahead of teammate, sophomore Daylah Vega. Salinas was the only runner to break the 19-minute mark and all five Sharyland’s point-awarding runner finished in the top eight. (All seven runners in total finished in the top 15). The Rattlers finished first, second, fourth, fifth and eighth (and 12th and 15th) out of 54 runners.

And this was supposed to be a rebuilding year after the Rattlers graduated five runners from last year’s squad, which advanced to state and finished in a school-best eighth as a team.

A perfect score is 15 points for a team finishing in all top-five spots. Sharyland earned 20 points to outdistance McAllen Rowe’s second-place finish with 54 points.

Sharyland and Rowe will both advance to regionals Nov. 9 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The top 10 overall finishers will also advance. The girls race begins at 8 a.m. and the boys at 8:30 a.m.

Sharyland High head coach Melissa Death said she wasn’t sure if her girls team would be able to run due to COVID-19 concerns at the school the day before.

“Thank goodness all my girls are virtual learners because if they were face-to-face, they weren’t going to be able to competed,” Dearth said. “That was nerve-wracking.”

Sharyland has dominated the pandemic-shortened season with finishes similar to the one Saturday at Sharyland Pioneer high school, finishing in the 20-point range at each meet, sometimes even scoring fewer points. During one weekend during the season, Dearth’s “A” team won a meet as well as her “B” team.

“Last year we had a veteran team and this year a young team but I think we can get at least our top two individuals to state,” Dearth said. “I think they can even have a better shot next year and maybe to even better than the eighth place — the best the school has even done even before the split (when Sharyland High split into Sharyland and Sharyland Pioneer).”

On the boys side, Williams Macias continued to be in a class of his own in South Texas, completing the course in 14:47.60. He was the only runner to finish in a sub 15-minute time and 23 seconds ahead of second place Cesar Ramirez from Sharyland Pioneer.

“Those two were in a class by themselves,” McAllen High head coach Luis Cantu said. “That was some serious racing.”

McHi won the boys event, placing its scoring runners in the top 13 and scored 48 points, beating out second-place Sharyland Pioneer, which scored 51. Similar to the girls meet, the top two teams and top 10 individuals will advance to the regional meet. It was the Bulldogs’ second straight district title.

Runners from five different schools finished in the top six spots, creating a fairly competitive race as McAllen Memorial ended in third with 66 points.

“Today’s meet was probably one of the toughest district meets,” Cantu said. “Pioneer has been a top program since they opened and McAllen Memorial is another top team — they were ranked No. 8 in the state when the season opened. So this was a serious battle today. It was fun and it was some great racing, but it was really a battle.

Ismael Hernandez paced McHi in 15:49.80 to finish third overall, and fellow senior Hunter Herrera captured ninth in 16:07.10. Rounding out McHi’s runners were junior Matt Gonzalez in 11th (16:14.80), senior Julio Alanis in 12th (16:21.90) and junior Joe Rios in 13th (16:28.00).

“It could’ve gone either way today,” Cantu said. “We have a senior group so the experience is there and this is a sport where you control your own destiny. You don’t have to be inside a court or wherever. You can go out and run any time you want. Today could’ve gone either way. It was a tough one.”

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EDINBURG — When Saturday began, the Mission High and Edinburg North volleyball teams had great opportunities to create breathing room in the standings with matches against Edinburg High and PSJA High, respectively.

Edinburg High and PSJA High had different plans.

The Bobcats and Bears claimed sweeps of the co-first place teams, intensifying the District 31-6A race for a district championship and tightening the standings for playoff position.

Jazmin Cuellar and Natalie Hernandez provided plenty of firepower, and libero Hannah Vega led a strong defensive effort, stopping any sort of Mission offensive attack as Edinburg High claimed a 25-20, 25-14, 25-8 victory. The win improved Edinburg High to 6-3 in district, while Mission fell to 7-2. Likewise in Pharr, the Bears captured a 25-20, 26-24, 25-18 win over Edinburg North to also improve to 6-3, sending North to 7-2.

Edinburg Vela’s win over PSJA North on Saturday kept the SaberCats in the playoff hunt as well, improving their record to 5-4.

It didn’t take long for Cuellar to show that she had the makings for a great day, collecting three kills while Vega served up one of her four aces on the day and Edinburg jumped out early to a 7-2 lead. Mission threatened just once the rest of the day, in the second set, to take a lead early in that set.

Cuellar finished with match highs in kills (17) and blocks (10), and with Hernandez’s 10 kills, it proved to be too much firepower for a Mission squad that seemed in disarray, unable to find any rhythm and giving up too many opportunities for Edinburg High to attack by sending free balls over the net. The Bobcats gladly obliged.

“It gets your blood pumping, it gets the entire team going when the offense starts going,” Cuellar said. “We had to come in and realize the past is the past and come back to see what you can do better and how you can help the team better because it’s not about one person, it’s a team effort.”

Part of Mission’s struggles, however, could be blamed on the Bobcats, who defensively seemed to be everywhere Mission tried to attack, from kill attempts to tips to pushes in the deep corners or trying to sneak a second ball over the net. Vega was one of three players with double digits in digs with a team-leading 31. Mia Dominguez added 14 digs and Kristen Salinas had 10. Hernandez and Arianna also contributed nine digs apiece as the Bobcats played superior coverage defense and turned many of the free balls into attack opportunities.

“The pass has a lot to do with setting, and once they get a good ball … it’s all a domino effect. The defense is a big part of the game,” Vega said. “The defense helps keep us alive.

“The serve can help keep the momentum or lose the momentum, too. We’ve been working a lot on our serving game, spot serving and finding the weaker players or the open areas. It’s a big part of the game as well.”

It has been a roller-coaster week for the Bobcats, defeating Edinburg Vela on Tuesday in three sets before falling to Edinburg North on Friday, also in three sets.

“After yesterday’s loss, you always worry as a coach, because the kids have to turn it around and bounce back so quickly,” Edinburg High head coach Deanna Dominguez said. “I thought Sam Saenz, our right-side hitter, when she just wailed on a ball, I knew when I saw that, that we were ready to go.

“It sends a message when you force that other team to scramble and bring something back. Fortunately we were able to get those free balls from Mission and convert them. They are a great team.”

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