If there was one team that could have benefited from a big win heading into the playoffs, it was McAllen Rowe.

And the Warriors got precisely that Monday, dropping the first set then winning three straight en route to a 22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-23 victory over McAllen Memorial, the state’s No. 9 ranked team in Class 6A, according to the Texas Girls Coaches Association most recent poll. Rowe’s win also dropped Memorial from the co-District 30-6A title with McAllen High and left them in second place.

“This give us some momentum going into the playoffs,” Rowe head coach Magda Canales said. “It gives the girls a sense of unity and helps them with the fact that playing together makes things happen. It was good timing.”

Junior Anna Honrubia led the Warriors’ attack with 12 kills. She was followed by freshman Mia Mata’s eight kills.

“Anna has a very strong presence on the court,” Canales said. “She has experience and show leadership as a co-captain. She does a good job keeping the team together.

“Mia is very assertive and aggressive. She was a little timid at the beginning of the season but has grown tremendously. She is making better decisions and learning to adjust to the set that is given to the ball that comes her way. She’s another huge presence.”

Rowe went 1-5 against the other three teams from the district heading to the playoffs, McAllen Hi (0-2), McAllen Memorial (1-1) and PSJA High (0-2). The Warriors’ losses to PSJA High and Memorial all went five sets.

“We just need to all play together as one, that’s the part we have been working on,” Canales said. “They displayed a lot of enthusiasm and my job as coach is to set the example. Yes, we’ll make mistakes here and there, but it’s just a matter of shaking it off and focusing on the next play.”

Rowe will travel to Alice on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. playoff matchup against Laredo United, the top seed from District 29-6A.

We are going to continue to do what we do, attack the ball,” Canales said. “United is a very strong team with a lot of experience. We are going to continue to work together, try to not look back and move forward.”

MILESTONES

At least three RGV volleyball players reached milestones during this season.

First it was Edinburg Vela’s Glenys Maldonado. The senior hitter, an all-round player, recorded her 1,000th kill and later recorded her 1,000th dig, a rare feat with the specialization of positions now in the sport.

“The accomplishment that Glenys Maldonado has reached is due to her passion for playing the best of her ability to help her team win,” Vela head coach Araceli Ortega said. “Her great work ethic brings out the best in her game play.”

McAllen High senior Lexi Gonzalez set the school’s all-time record for kills during a contest at city-rival McAllen Memorial. Gonzalez registered 28 kills in that match as the Bulldogs avenged an earlier loss to the Mustangs in four sets.

Sydney Pemelton held the record with 1,517 kills. Gonzalez currently has 1,563.

“Lexi has worked so hard since she was a little girl to become an outstanding athlete and has earned this milestone,” McHi head coach Paula Dodge said. “Also, her loving and humble personality have enabled her to develop lifelong friendships with her teammates.”

Sharyland Pioneer’s Natalie Reyes also hit a milestone with her 1,000th assist during the season. In her second year on the varsity, Reyes has quickly risen to be among the top setters in South Texas.

“Natalie is a dynamic and exciting player and 1,000 assists is an awesome accomplishment,” Pioneer head coach Laura Cavazos said. “But what I think makes it even better is she accomplished this her sophomore season. She contributes to our team by not only running our offense, but setting the example in practice with her work ethic and dedication.”

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McALLEN — It was only appropriate that Lexi Gonzalez stood at the end line, ready to serve.

Earlier in the day, she set the all-time program kill record for McAllen High. She smashed her way to 28 kills, added three crucial blocks and now was about to serve match point.

“I was pretty nervous at that time,” Gonzalez said. “I just wanted to make sure it stayed in play.”

It did, and Haidee Moore put the ball away with her seventh kill as McHi claimed an intense 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18 victory over McAllen Memorial on the road. The win split the season series between the two squads and leaves them alone atop District 30-6A with 10-1 records and three games remaining.

The match was highlighted by amazing defensive play that kept several rallies going with saves that seemed unlikely. McHi libero Audrey Zamora and defensive specialist Sabrina Garza were diving, sprawling and reaching nearly everything that Memorial’s plethora of hitters blasted at them. Likewise, Memorial libero Cori Talamantez and Mercedes Lara were extremely stingy when it came to letting a ball touch the floor.

“That’s where it all starts, with defense,” McHi head coach Paula Dodge said. “They were all over the court, A couple of times crawling after them to keep them off the floor. They had an awesome match.”

During one play in the third set with McHi trailing 20-18, Garza dove for a ball that all but seemed to be on the way to the ground, somehow popped it up over the net where it floated down untouched to close McHi to within one as the Bulldogs looked for a sweep. Gonzalez followed with a kill, Ada Sadlier served up an ace and McHi went up 23-21.

Then, with the Bulldogs two away from match point, Demy Banks and Bianca Ramirez fired up back-to-back kills to lead the Mustangs back en route to winning the set, 25-23.

Midway through the fourth set with both teams scoring back and forth after extensive rallies that could have easily ended in a point for one team or the other on more than one occasion, McHi went on a 5-0 run behind a Gonzalez back row kill, a pair of Memorial errors and a Celina Saenz kill for a 15-11 advantage. Sydney Marburger ended the streak with a kill down the line and Memorial was back within three.

The Mustangs’ Natalie Silva then heated up with two kills and it was 15-14. With an 18-15 lead it was again Gonzalez, but not with a hard but a tip outside to the line and two Memorial errors later and the Bulldogs led 21-15.

Memorial won the first meeting between the two state-ranked teams and head coach Ashley Doffing said she felt their approach on Saturday was something that would need to be worked on.

“We need to work. We need to come in and treat every team like we are the underdog,” Doffing said. “That what we did the first time, that what gave us an extra push.”

Gonzalez came into the match needing just seven kills to break the school record of 1,517 owned by Sidney Pemelton and collected that early in the second set. At the end of the night, she ended up with 1,539 with three regular season matches left.

“Today, we brought out a little more energy and were a little more focused,” Dodge said. “Lexi is our court and team leader and she went out there and she’s the one the girls look to. She had them focused like here and came through today, as always.”

Memorial (27-8 overall) came into the matched ranked No. 12 in Class 6A by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, while McHi (37-2) was No. 18 in the state.

“That first match there was a lot of pressure and we let them (Memorial) get away with some shots where we didn’t react or adjust,” Zamora said. “But we watched and learned and it showed today.”

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McALLEN — For the first time this season, McAllen Memorial star running back Campbell Speights was held to under 200 yards rushing Friday against city rival McAllen High.

But the senior still scored three touchdowns and connected with Zyan Gregory for a tricky 61-yard touchdown pass and the Mustangs ran away with a 41-7 District 30-6A victory at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Memorial, the No. 1 team in the RGVSports.com Top 10 Poll, improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the district. McHi fell to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in district.

Michael Lewis added 89 yards on 12 carries as McAllen Memorial compiled 293 yards rushing to go with 215 yards passing for an impressive 508 total yards of offense.

Memorial head coach Bill Littleton said offensively the team was looking to see what McHi’s defense was going to allow — and it became obvious that they were doing whatever they could to slow down Speights.

“Our kids always try to take what people give us,” Littleton said. “Today, the passing game was there and the receivers saw some good balls.”

Up 7-0 in the second quarter, Memorial quarterback Joseph Lara handed the ball off to Speights, who ran right, stopped and launched the ball along the sidelines to Gregory, who was all alone and scampered into the end zone with 7:19 remaining until halftime. Gregory had a breakout night, catching seven passes for 205 yards.

Memorial quarterback Joseph Lara completed 6-of-10 passes on the night for 154 yards.

“Our quarterback had a good game. We made some adjustments on offense at the half and played well there as well,” Littleton said. “Our defense played very well; we gave up very few yards, the pass coverage was good and our defensive coaches had a great game. I couldn’t be any more proud.”

The Memorial defense allowed McHi just 22 yards rushing on 16 attempts and 60 yards passing for a total of 82 yards.

Down 27-0 in the third quarter after a Speights 1-yard run, Dylan Suarez took the ensuing kickoff, reversed fields and took off for a 76-yard touchdown to close the gap to 27-7.

Lewis scored on the next possession on a 49-yard run and Speights scored his final touchdown to end the scoring. Memorial ran 67 plays and limited the Bulldogs to just 34.

McHi returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday against PSJA High. Memorial will host La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

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McALLEN — When Lexi Gonzalez is on fire, McAllen High plays on a different level.

“Lexi was on fire today,” McHi head coach Paul Dodge said. “She played tremendously.”

Gonzalez, a senior hitter for the Bulldogs, racked up 20 kills in just three sets and McHi defeated city rival McAllen Rowe 25-15, 25-20, 25-20 on Tuesday at the McAllen High gym. The match was the beginning of the second time through the District 30-6A schedule and once the Bulldogs got on a roll, they steamrolled through a resilient Warriors defense that just kept getting too many balls blasted at them to stay in the contest.

The two teams played earlier in the season and McHi claimed another sweep, but that game proved much closer than the score indicated, while Tuesday’s matchup wasn’t as close.

Errors were more prevalent than kills or digs early on, however, until Rowe’s Anna Honrubia blistered a back row kill that split the McHi defense and gave Rowe a 5-4 lead. That, however, transitioned straight into a power performance from the Bulldogs.

First, Gonzalez recorded a kill. Then, Haidee Moore registered a block off a Honrubia attempt. It was the only block of the night for the Bulldogs. Andrea Tovar got into the kill party with a slide kill and Ada Sadlier added back-to-back aces and suddenly the Bulldogs led 9-5.

The power game continued as Celina Saenz and Moore chalked up back-to-back kills and McHi led 20-12, going on an 11-7 run to take control.

McHi fell behind again early in the second set as Honrubia and freshman Mia Mata each had kills and Rowe took a 4-1 lead.

That’s when Gonzalez showed up again with three straight kills over a five-point period and McHi jumped back in front. Gonzalez said that this was one of her better games of the season.

“I feel like I’ve improved throughout the season and that’s what we’re all doing,” the senior said. “I think I realized it, like, four points into the game that, OK, it’s time to step up and keep going with it and keep swinging.”

With McHi slowly extending its lead in the second set, the Warriors returned a ball just a little long and Gonzalez was there to put the ball nearly straight down for a 15-10 lead.

“I was actually pretty scared because I thought the ball was going to hit the net and I would touch it but I just timed it right,” she said.

“When she has a great game, it helps the rest of the team — it sets everyone on fire and keeps that intensity up,” Dodge said. “This is the second round through district and this was one more step closer to where we want to be.”

Dodge came into the game concerned about the team’s defense. They put at least some of those concerns away, first with aggressive serving and second with a back row that let very few attack attempts hit the floor, not allowing the Warriors to get into any groove.

“I thought we were much better moving, talking more and communicating better,” said Dodge, whose team improved to 36-2 on the season and 7-1 in the district. “I liked what I saw but there’s still more work and a couple thing we need to improve still.”

To go with her 20 kills, Gonzalez also had nine digs and two of the team’s 11 aces. Saenz added 12 kills and Moore had seven. Seven different Bulldogs registered at least one kill and six collected at least one ace.

McHi returns to action for a noon matchup Saturday at Mission High. Rowe, which fell to 4-4 in district, will host La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at noon Saturday.

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It is definitely cliché, but Edcouch-Elsa volleyball head coach Gloria Treviño believes in the adage that “offense brings fans, defense brings championships.”

If she wasn’t loyal to that phrase, she may be a little worried about where her team stands in preparation for the upcoming district season just less than two weeks away.

“We are defensively sound, but last year at this point we were a little quicker with our offense,” said Treviño, in her second year leading the Yellow Jackets. “But the girls know what they need to get there and we are slowly prevailing.

The defending District 32-5A champions return six seniors from last year’s squad that ended Brownsville Veterans’ dominance in the district. While the two teams split their two matches, E-E had already clinched the title when the Chargers came to town. Even though Veterans won and ended E-E’s hopes for a perfect district record, the Jackets still claimed the top seed going to the postseason.

Leading that defense is libero Arissa Cavazos, who has held that position for the past two seasons. Her job is to not only keep rallies alive, but start the offense in motion with quick, crisp passes to her setter, usually Meagan Acevado, for what Treviño wants to see — a quick and powerful point-ending kill, often times coming from right-side hitter Veronica Elizondo or one of Edcouch’s other big hitters.

“This isn’t ping pong. We don’t want to be rallying back and forth,” she said. “When the other team gives us a free ball our job is to get a kill off it to quick point or a point and side out. When we are in certain rotations, these girls know what to do and they’re getting there.

“Having played together and having played a lot together from school and in all the toughest leagues, these girls know their strengths and weaknesses.”

The Class 5A Yellow Jackets hold an 18-7 record, having finished second in a Donna tournament, fourth in a Sinton tournament and fifth in a Laredo tournament. They also have impressive wins over Class 6A perennial powers McAllen Rowe and San Benito.

E-E almost knocked off the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s No. 12-ranked Class 5A team in Mission Veterans, coached by Treviño’s sister, Diana Lerma.

“We lost 15-13 to them in the third set,” Treviño said. “We came so close. They looked worried, they sure did.”

Edcouch travels to Roma for a 6:30 non-district matchup tonight before hosting Brownsville Hanna on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets open defense of their District 32-5A title on Sept. 14 against Brownsville Lopez at home.

LERMA HONORED AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Mission Veterans senior Kassy Lerma was named the Max Preps/American Volleyball Coaches Association national volleyball player of the week for the week of Aug. 21.

The middle hitter/blocker has registered 451 kills so far this year, averaging 6.7 kills per set on .543 hitting percentage. She has also accumulated 117 blocks — 87 solo blocks and 30 block assists for the No. 12 team in the Class 5A rankings, according to the TGCA.

She also has 26 aces and 343 digs. Lerma was also named The Monitor/RGV Sports.com Player of the Week for Aug 19. Mission Veterans is 22-5 on the year and plays at Brownsville Hanna at 7 tonight.

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.”

MISSION — In the battle between Laredo LBJ and Mission Veterans in the finals of the Mission Varsity Volleyball Tournament, Davids need not apply. There were just two Goliaths.

The Goliaths did what they do best. The Wolves and Patriots unleashed their two cannon-like hitters and they went at if for nearly two hours, hammering balls at resilient defenses, but even the strongest walls weaken when battered relentlessly. In the end, Kassy Lerma, Rylie Barnett and the Patriots just had a little more of that firepower and claimed an 18-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory at Mission Veterans High School on Saturday.

In a series of plays that that were a microcosm of the match, the final 12 points of the third set — following at tie at 18 —were either won by kills, a block or one ace, by Bella Dominguez that gave Veterans a 24-22 advantage. There were no errors, just multiple power punches and volleyball at a very high level. Coaches didn’t bother with strategic timeouts; they encouraged and let the players do what they do best swing away.

LBJ fell to 11-2 on the season, while Mission Veterans improved to 13-4.

The Patriots trailed for most of the final two sets, by one or two points in the second set and by as many as three in the final set, 18-15, following one of many Yaretzi Ortiz’s kills down the line. That’s when Lerma, a senior and Barnett, a freshman, were given ball after ball. They responded authoritatively and Barnett ended the excitement with, what else, a signature kill for the title.

“I’m always asking them, ‘Why are you trying to give me a heart attack?’” Mission Veterans head coach Diana Lerma said. “This was a great match against a great team and all our girls stepped it up to defend our title and our home court, so that was all good.”

The only time that one team pulled significantly away from the other came in the first set. After being tied at 16, the Wolves went on a 9-2 run to claim the first game. A rare tip by LBJ off the second ball dropped in the middle of the Veterans defense and a pair of Patriots errors were in the middle of the set-ending run.

“When we lost, I got so mad,” said Lerma, who finished with a team high 20 kills to go with 15 digs and four blocks. “I was saying that it wasn’t going to happen again and you could see all of us picking up our game.”

Barnett picked up her game the most — and when it was most needed, during the second half of the match. Barnett plays opposite Lerma so there is always one of the big guns for setters Ronnie Cantu or Allyson Anaya to set to.

“I knew I had to put it away for my team,” said Barnett, who added 12 kills and five blocks. “I knew they needed me. This was a fun game and very competitive.”

Cantu, one of eight seniors on the team, had a team high 25 assists, setting up Barnett, Lerma and Karina Salinas, who registered three kills.

“Being the championship game, we’re always riled up for that first set,” she said. “This was a game where it was important for me to communicate with my hitters, especially considering they (LBJ) had a big block opposite side and a really great defense. I had to put the balls where the hitters needed it and I felt we did that in the last two sets.”

After losing to McAllen Memorial to open the season, Mission Veterans went on its annual trip to Houston to play in a tournament with several perennial playoff teams and state contenders. The Patriots went 7-2 on that trip and both players and coaches credited those matches with preparing them for the tournament — the powerful LBJ squad.

“That Houston tournament has always been a great beginning for us,” Cantu said. “It really helps our team chemistry and gets us ready for games like this.”

Following the match, Kassy Lerma summed up the high-powered match.

“It made me love volleyball all over again,” she said. “It brought with it all the hungriness of playing volleyball.”

Mission Veterans returns to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday at home against Edcouch-Elsa.

MISSION — Natalie Reyes took a perfect pass from libero Shelby Cavazos and deftly placed a perfect set to Jordan Bravo, who was coming around behind Reyes on what’s called a slide. Jordan went up off one leg in a similar motion of making a layup in basketball and hammered the ball down into an open spot in the defense.

That was one of several impressive plays — from pass to set to kill — Sharyland Pioneer executed in a 25-7, 25-18 win over La Joya High during pool play Friday at the Mission Varsity Volleyball Tournament at Mission Veterans High School.

Friday was the first day of the two-day event. Thirty-two teams make up eight, four-team pools — four pools at Vets and four at Mission High.

Play continues today with the Gold and Silver Bracket games at Mission Veterans, and the Bronze and Ruby Bracket games Mission High. Today’s tournament is a single-elimination setup. The championship of each bracket is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Sharyland Pioneer came out strong, jumping out to a 5-0 and 14-1 lead in the first set behind aggressive serving from Reyes and Daisy Monie and kills from Daniela Alvarez, Samantha Ayala and Thalia Ochoa.

“We’re always trying to work on speed, from the pass to the set to the swing,” Sharyland Pioneer head coach Laura Cavazos said. “Nat (Reyes) has good hands and can put the ball in places for quicks. And we have hitters who can jump and score efficiently and quickly on the quick sets. We’re not trying to be fancy. We’re trying to be efficient.”

Playing a 5-1 offensive setup, Reyes set all the away around in the rotation. The Monitor’s All-Area Volleyball Newcomer of the Year last year said she has grown mentally since last season and is excited about the high-powered offense she has around her.

“We are going into this season with a strong mindset and with a lot of power,” she said. “We had a lot of power hitters and we are trying to work smart. The back row is killing it and getting us the ball in the right spots and that just helps the offense go.”

The Pioneer offense ran smoothly throughout the quick match with Reyes mixing up her sets from quick to outside to back sets, keeping the Coyote defense usually only able to single block. Several times the offense moved so quickly from post to post that La Joya didn’t have a blocker in place, allowing the Diamondbacks free reign to swing at full power.

“Our goal overall is to be unpredictable,” Cavazos said. “If you get too predictable, the other team can camp out on a hitter and you won’t be successful overall on offense. We are trying to run different things out of our serve reception and wherever we can. You can’t do that without good passing and I thought our passing was really good today in the first game.”

Reyes led the team with 22 assists and an ace, Alvarez added six kills, Ochoa had four kills and Bravo added a pair of blocks along with three kills.

“We have a lot of height and ability and we are very versatile,” Cavazos said. “We want to make sure we are putting the team out there that can be the best and most productive for Pioneer. If that means running a 5-1, OK. If it means a 6-2 we just want to make sure we have enough options offensively and defensively.”

If both Pioneer and Mission Veterans, rivals who both went 3-0 in their pool and both play in District 31-5A, win their first match today, they would meet in the Gold Bracket semifinals at 1 p.m.

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MISSION — Sharyland High’s volleyball team showed off some impressive firepower at times against visiting Harlingen South.

However, the visiting Hawks showed that power isn’t the only way to win games. Using a series of tips, dinks and roll-over shots, Harlingen South claimed a 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 over the Rattlers on Tuesday in a non-district match.

Harlingen South improved to 9-0, while Sharyland dropped to 5-5 on the season.

The Hawks, led by hitter Mikela Mireles who ended the night with 21 kills, used a variety of attacks to jump out early and hold the lead in the first set, and come back from an 11-6 deficit in the second set.

“We were playing a perimeter defense and with that there are some openings and they were able to get the ball there,” Sharyland head coach Raul Castillo said. “We had to change it up and that helped.”

The third set saw more of a bump-set-kill approach from both teams and Sharyland played equal to its opponents during that span led by hitters Tristen Maddox and Marianna Martinez.

“They are a strong team and we knew that coming in,” Harlingen South head coach Anissa Lucio said. “We wanted to change up our shots and be smart with the ball. Controlling the first touch is key for us. Mikela stepped up, they all stepped up.”

Harlingen South has six seniors playing on the roster. The Hawks were coming off winning the Donna High tournament. South fell to McAllen High in last year’s playoffs and said they started right after that game preparing for this season with hopes of taking a veteran team to a deeper postseason run this year.

A pair of kills by each Maddox and Martinez during a 4-0 run pulled the Rattlers to within 15-14 in the third set. The teams went back and forth, each relying on their big guns — Mireles from Harlingen South and Maddox and Martinez from Sharyland, to throw their biggest punches at one another. The difference during that spell was the Hawks’ defense, which not only dug up many of the kill attempts, but also played well enough off the dig to set up an attack of their own.

A Maddox kill down the line kept Sharyland within 16-15, but a serve into the net and a pair of kills from Harlingen South’s Odemarys Vidana pushed the Hawks to a 20-16 lead. Sharyland would close to within 20-17 but no closer as the Class 6A Hawks finished the day off with a 5-3 run clinch the sweep.

“For us, it starts with the passing,” said Castillo, who could be heard throughout the match encouraging the girls to “keep swinging” at every kill opportunity. “We have to have a good first pass, especially when we are serve receiving, which hasn’t been there for us. That and defense. We’re working on feel, read and react but right now we are just not getting to our spots.

“We have girls who can attack, we saw that today. We just need to get the ball to them more so they can keep attacking.”

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MISSION — “…He’s destroying the field.”

Broadcaster Rowdy Gains’ voice blared over NBC Sports as Shaine Casas did just that — annihilating the field during the 100-meter backstroke. His time of 52.72 seconds earned him a gold medal at the Phillips 66 National Championship. It was the seventh-fastest American all-time mark and the fastest time for an American teen — ever.

“I watched one of the races,” Casas said of the 100-meter backstroke race, “it was crazy to watch. It wasn’t the way I saw it in my head — in my head the guys were right on me, but I had a pretty big lead.”

His time moved him past No. 8 Jacob Pebley, who recorded a 52.95 mark at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Games, and swimming legend Michael Phelps, who dropped to No. 9 on that list with his 2007 U.S. National Trials time of 53.01 seconds. Ryan Murphy holds the all-time mark at 51.85 seconds in the 2016 Olympics.

Casas also took a second place in the 200-meter backstroke, coming in only behind another U.S. swimming legend, Ryan Lochte.

“That was a really cool experience,” Casas said of his races at Nationals. “It was also a humbling experience. I never thought I would be racing these guys, because they were pretty old at the time when I was watching them,” he said. “I thought they would be out of there by then, but Lochte is still going and that’s cool for him.

“It’s crazy to think what happened. It spiraled so quickly in my favor, which is nice. It doesn’t always happen that way.”

Not long after Casas’ breakthrough performance into the American swimming spotlight, he was back home in Mission, enjoying some down time with family and friends. A group of them welcomed him home when he arrived at McAllen International Airport.

USA Swimming published a story on its website, stating, “No one predicted Shaine Casas would emerge as the most promising male backstroker at the Phillips 66 National Championships.”

Casas days at the national event with his Texas A&M teammates also brought him a second in the 200-meter individual medley and a third in the 4×200-meter relay. By the time he came home, “Casas” was a household name in the Rio Grande Valley, and probably around the swimming world, as well.

“I guess people do really remember kids from their hometown,” the former McAllen High swimmer said. “I was more in the shadows and didn’t think too many people paid attention. I mean, I swim — I’m not a five-star football recruit. It was eye opening and a little crazy that so many people care. I think they are starting to appreciate the sport more.”

Casas began swimming when his mom thought it would be a good idea to put him in water safety classes. “She didn’t want me to be one of those kids who ended up drowning,” he said in a Texas A&M interview earlier this week. “They saw I was doing pretty well, so my instructors told my mom to put me in summer league. I did that for a couple of years, and then they put me in year-long swimming when I was about eight or nine.”

Casas’ father, Border Patrol agent James Epling, drowned in the Colorado River in California in 2003 after he and other Border Patrol agents had been “involved in a foot pursuit of a Mexican national and three Chinese nationals who were spotted on the California side of the river,” reads the Officer Down Memorial Page at odmp.org. “Agent Epling had jumped into the river and pulled the three Chinese nationals out of the water, saving one of them who was drowning. He was running downstream, attempting to arrest the Mexican national, when he went under the water.”

During his high school career it became evident that Casas was coming into his own and that he had rising potential. During the summer before his senior season, he left the Valley to join a highly competitive swim team in Austin. He had outgrown the facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and needed something more.

“I’m not saying it can be competitive here but it’s just not the same,” he said. “One of the biggest reasons I left for the summer was so I could maximize my performance going into my senior year and right before college — I just had to give it my all. I still had a lot of goals, so I had to really focus.

“Now, at A&M we have such great facilities, everything is give to us. It really helps me focus on what I had and not take for granted what I have now. I’m just humbled by it all.”

Humble most aptly describes the 19-year-old phenom. During an interview at his house, his mother, Monica Epling, asked him if he would like to show some photographers his room, filled with medals and trophies from his accomplishments — “He calls it the museum,” Epling said.

“You can show them,” he said, distancing himself from showing off the accolades. If he had his way, the walls would more than likely be bare.

As she walked away with the photographers in tow, Casas said he appreciated all the things he has accomplished, but he doesn’t get awestruck by what he’s done — or by what he’s trying to accomplish, which is improve and win. “I’m pretty much a minimalist,” he said. “I like to be in control of the things I can and keeping things simple makes it easier.”

Casas, an avid video gamer, said he even mailed back his Microsoft Xbox console to his house so he could have more time to focus on swimming.

“Now I only have my computer, but I’m going to cut back on the games there, too,” he said.

Casas described his summer as “not really too exciting — just swimming, class, study hall and sleeping,” but then added that the end of the summer it “really picked up, traveling to an international meet in France and Spain.”

Casas produced the second-fastest swim of his career at the time to snag silver in 1 minute, 59.50 seconds in the 200 backstroke in the third and final stop of the Mare Nostrum swim series in Barcelona, Spain. Casas finished second for Team USA two days earlier in the 100 backstroke in Canet-en-Roussillon, France, which was the second stop on the three-meet series that travels around the Mediterranean Sea.

“We faced some really adverse conditions that we don’t normally face,” Casas said. “In Monaco, it was 50 degrees — and raining, not the best, but really good practice. After that I was ready for anything; California (the nationals) was a piece of cake for me after that.”

Casas is preparing for his sophomore season at Texas A&M and is expecting a better year than his first.

“I want to be the guy at NCAAs winning or just medaling,” he said. “I felt this year was not the greatest for me. People were still impressed and I was grateful for how I did, but I just want to do better and show people I can be competitive.

“I need to learn how to race a little better, to learn how to win no matter what.”

He became the third Texas A&M freshman swimmer to score individual points at the NCAA Championships and the first to do it in two events (200 IM and 200 fly). He was also named to the All-SEC Second Team in the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay plus the SEC All-Freshman team in the 200 backstroke. He was also an honorable mention All-American in the 200 IM.

In the 2018-19 season, the Aggies broke 11 school records, with Casas breaking two individual records — the 200 back (1 minutes, 39.84 seconds), the 200 IM (1:42.29) and four relays (200 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay).

Casas is on a meteoric rise. He credits consistency and hard work — and some luck, with how things have panned out, especially recently. Four years ago, he was just starting to realize that he could swim at the college level. He was a sophomore in high school at the time.

“Realistically, I didn’t think I could do this for a career until my sophomore year in high school. I got third in the state that year. That’s when it really hit that I could go swim in college,” he said. “I had plenty of scholarship offers from all around the country. I knew from the get-go where I was going to go. My mother said I had to listen to all of the offers, but I committed to A&M as soon as I could.”

The swim season never seems to end. His few days at home will be his biggest break and only chance to “reset” until Christmas. Until then, his time will be occupied training for the season, the NCAAs and then the Olympics.

“In a few weeks, we’ll start up nice and slow. It’s a long process, but once it starts it will be crazy few months — the season never really ends. I’m even swimming now on my break. Not because I have to or I need to, but because I love to. I’m always trying to get better.”

“Before I can be an Olympian, there’s always more work I can put in,” he said in an interview published on Texas A&M’s website. “I want to do much better during my college season at SEC and NCAA competitions. I didn’t race very well. That’s something I’ll attribute to just being a freshman. We’re obviously going to compete hard in the SEC competitions, but we’re going to be thinking about Olympic trials. Going to the Olympics would mean the world to me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. It would be a dream come true.”