SAN ANTONIO — Throughout the entire match, there wasn’t a time that Rouse High School didn’t have at least two girls 6-feet or taller on its front row.

Sometimes, it was like this – 6-feet, 6-1, 6-3 – along with a 6-foot setter.

And while height alone isn’t everything on the volleyball court, that height – along with talent to match – was too much for McAllen Memorial and the Raiders claimed a three-set 25-16, 25-13, 25-20 victory over the Mustangs on Friday. The Raiders will play at noon in Saturday’s Region IV-5A championship against Liberty Hill for a trip to next week’s state tournament.

Overall, the Rouse roster included five players at least 6-feet or taller and another four that stood 5-10. Nara Tanco led all hitters with 14 kills, followed by teammates Kayla Lopez (just 5-foot-6) and Jadyn Willis (6-3) with 12 kills apiece.

Amare Hernandez was able to trim the defensive trees for Memorial, pacing the Mustangs with 11 kills and Madisyn Sosa added seven. Leah Garcia contributed five.

The Raiders were not only towering and talented but they moved lightly and extremely fast.

“They ran a very fast offense, faster than we’ve seen,” McAllen Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing said. “It was all about making adjustments. It was slow adjustments but 20-25 is something to feel proud about.

“It showed the girls wanted to fight. They really came together this year to get us here so I hope they learned a lot of life lesson.”

Playing over the net as high as they were made it difficult for Memorial’s middle hitters and blockers to find effectiveness even though Kaitlyn Martin and Alicia Ziegler each had moments shutting down Raiders hitters. The constant barrage and non-stop attacks were just too much for the Mustangs to overcome.

Rouse and Liberty Hill played twice this year with Rouse winning both matches three sets to one.

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SAN ANTONIO – Sometimes, teams overcome slow starts,

That wasn’t the case Friday for the Sharyland Rattlers as Liberty Hill swept the District 31-5A champs 25-15, 25-23, 25-20 to win the first UIL Region 4-5A semifinal at Northside Sports Gym.

Liberty Hill will play the winner of the second semifinal between Rouse and McAllen Memorial, which followed the first semifinal.

Kenisha Martinez led all hitters with a match high 12 kills and played a major role especially in the final set as the team leaned on their star player and she came up huge down the stretch.

Trailing 23-16 in the third set, the sophomore hitter came up with a pair of back row kills as well as an ace to pull her team to within 23-20. However, slow starts and long gaps of errors and misplayed balls were too much to overcome and Liberty Hill completed the sweep.

“We started too slow, it reminded me of the preseason,” said Sharyland High head coach Raul Castillo, whose team finished with a dominant 45-4 record on the season, at one point winning 29 straight matches. “To have a chance with this team we had to serve them hard, keep them 10 feet from the net and out of system because they were 4, 5 or 6 inches taller than us so we have to do extra.”

The Rattlers were seemingly rattled from the start as Liberty Hill jumped to a 7-1 lead. Shary roared back and pulled to within 12-9 on a Kassandra De La Garza kill. Liberty Hill however, took advantage of multiple errors from Sharyland and kills from Kealy Dimer and Taylor Gaines to pull away.

Liberty Hill jumped out 9-2 in the second set and Sharyland clawed its way back behind a pair of aces from Nicole Cavazos and a kill from America Hernandez. The teams tied at 20, 22 and 23 during the set as the Rattlers regained their aggressiveness they showed all season before a crucial block by Liberty Hill just touched the sideline and the Panthers captured the 2-0 advantage.

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FALFURRIAS — It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment the McAllen Memorial volleyball team morphed into the team that galloped onto the Falfurrias Junior High gymnasium floor Tuesday.

That team looked across the net at its opponent, perennial power Corpus Christi Flour Bluff and all-world hitter sophomore Maggie Kroft, and simply said “bring it.”

But nothing was brought. And if the Hornets tried to bring something, it was usually slammed right back at them.

The Mustangs kept the Hornets out of system and flustered Kroft with multiple “not-a-chance” blocks en route to a dominant 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 victory over Flour Bluff in a UIL Class 5A regional quarterfinal and a trip to the Sweet 16 beginning Friday.

Joining McAllen Memorial in the Region IV-5A semifinals will be Sharyland High, which also won in without-a-doubt fashion, ousting Victoria West 25-19, 25-23, 25-17.

The two District 31-5A rivals could meet in the regional championship if they win their next match. Sharyland will face Liberty Hill at 5 p.m. Friday at San Antonio Northside Sports gym, and McAllen Memorial will follow at 7 p.m. against Rouse. The winners of those matches will play for the regional title at noon Saturday.

While Memorial has been an offensive juggernaut all season with all the tools of a good volleyball team, there were instances where it all fell apart. Head coach Ashley Doffing referred to those moments all season as “hiccups.” For the past three weeks, the Mustangs clearly found the remedy for those glitches.

Maybe it was after a five-set loss to McAllen High where it all changed, or it could’ve been four days later when the Mustangs ended Sharyland High’s 29-match win streak. The Mustangs are on a nine-win streak of their own now. Since that win over the Rattlers, Memorial has looked better, stronger and faster each time out en route to winning 24 of its past 27 sets during that span.

The Mustangs have more hitters, better defense, improved passing and they exude confidence, just like they did Tuesday when they were down 12-5 in the second set to Flour Bluff. There were no shaky knees, no panicking. There was just a team that went to business using its myriad of thunderous hitters, blockers that formed a solid wall of defense time and again, a pair of setters that ran their fastest offense of the season and a human backboard, disguised as a libero, reading the defense.

And despite having strained her back early in the match Thursday against Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, Madisyn Sosa delivered some blistering topspin jump serves that came across the net more like screaming meteors, often just too hot to handle, if they were handled at all. While all areas of their performance were in synch, it may have been their approach from behind the service line that led to the smooth win. Of course, when middle hitter Alicia Ziegler popped a Flour Bluff player in the noggin with a crushing attack, the could’ve sent the message as well.

It was a performance for the ages for the Mustangs. Head coach Ashley Doffing said the product that was on the floor Tuesday was a refined version of what they started with in August.

“I think coming through August they were learning they had to come together, it wasn’t an individual thing,” Doffing said. “Since August to November, it has been great. We have been learning that we’re much more than just that offensive team, that we’re strong in the front, we have a big block and Valley volleyball needs to be respected. Today, this definitely brought it all home.”

Amare Hernandez led the offense with 14 kills and one block, and Sosa contributed eight kills and four aces, along with several non-returned serves. Leah Garcia collected six kills and four blocks, Alicia Ziegler had five kills and three blocks, and Kaitlyn Martin added four kills and an ace while also getting in on the “block party” with three.

Madison Amaya tallied 16 assists and two kills, and Gaby Torres had 11 assists, three kills and three aces. Kassie Falcon contributed 10 digs as the Mustangs’ last line of defense.

“I did everything I could do to be ready for this game,” said Sosa, talking about dealing with her back strain. “I tested my back on that first serve, and I felt pretty powerful in the moment. This win really means a lot.”

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The defending NBA G League champion RGV Vipers shot a dismal 30% from the floor, and Mexico City outscored them in each of the four quarters en route to a convincing 120-84 Capitanés victory Sunday to kick off the 2022-23 season.

Louis King paced the Vipers offensively with 23 points on 7-for-16 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds before fouling out. He was one of two Vipers to foul out during the game while three other players had five fouls. Cassius Stanley scored 18 points while Darius Days added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Mexico City, playing its first ever home G League home game, shot 47% from the floor. The Capitanés led by 12 at the half before outscoring the Vipers in the third (27-16) and fourth (35-22) quarters.

Six players scored in double digits for Mexico City, led by Mason Jones with 32 points. Jones was 4-for-5 from the 3-point line and 8-for-11 overall. He was 6-for-7 from the free-throw line and as a team. The Capitanés converted on 25-of-28 free throws (89.3%).

Former Vipers players Gary Clark and Bruno Caboclo earned double-doubles for Mexico City. Clark scored 14 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Caboclo also scored 14 points and had 13 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

Overall, Mexico City took 66 shots from the field compared to 99 for the Vipers. RGV attempted 45 3-pointers but only knocked down nine of them.

NBA veteran Willie Cauley-Stein, a 7-foot-center, and Ray Spalding, a 6-10 forward who is recovering from an injury that kept him out from playing all last season with the Rockets and has been working on his conditioning, did not play. Their presence were clearly missed as Mexico City dominated the rebounding, 55-41.

Nearly 7,500 fans were reported in attendance for the first game at the Mexico City Arena.

RGV, the affiliate of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg against the Birmingham Squadron. There will be a G League championship ring presentation during the game and it is the first of three straight Vipers home games. They entertain the Memphis Hustle for a two-game series, first at 7 p.m. Thursday and the second game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Earlier in the week, the Vipers finalized their roster to open the season and announced that Jae Steadman would join Vipers first-year head coach Kevin Burleson as the assistant head coach. Steadman was part of the with the team from 2009-2012. Steadman was part of the first Vipers championship team in 2010.

Steadman was named interim head coach for the UTRGV men’s basketball in February 2021 and was an assistant head coach there to seven years, starting in 2014.

ALICE — The first eight points of Saturday’s Region IV-5A area-round playoff volleyball match told the story between Sharyland High and Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial.

It wasn’t a novel. It was a short story.

Sharyland led 8-0. Vets had already taken a timeout and the match at that point was just five minutes long. It was an explosive start that ssent a huge statement to Corpus Christi Veterans.

While the Eagles calmed down and gave themselves some chances, Saturday was 100% Shary, almost all the time. The Eagles only had one rally of four points in the entire match, that coming when they took a 4-0 lead to open the third. They led until 10-7 before Nicole Cavazos served up six straight points, including one ace, and Sharyland was in control again.

When the match ended, 64 minutes after it started, the Rattlers were celebrating a convincing 25-13, 25-17, 25-20 victory and preparing for a trip to the regional quarterfinal round against Victoria West with a game and a trip to the Sweet 16.

(See the photo gallery here: Sharyland sweeps CC Veterans)

It didn’t take long for Veterans to realize they couldn’t go punch for punch with the powerful hitting Rattlers. While they took their opportunities, they spent most of the match tipping balls, pushing them to open spots and the corners and cutting the ball at sharp angles.

While it caught Sharyland by surprise, in the blink of an eye it was back on the attack, led by sophomores Kenisha Martinez, Kassandra De La Garza and senior America Hernandez. The three-headed hitting beasts combined for 35 kills, led by Martinez’s 23.

The Rattlers improved to 43-4 on the season and for head coach Raul Castillo, it was a big win after his squad didn’t reach the postseason last year in an super-competitive District 31-5A. This year, however, they made no doubt about it, dropping just one match during district en route to the title.

“It means everything,” Castillo said about the two dominant playoff victories. “This year it’s with a majority of the same squad from last year. You can see they are hungry. Last year, they came out and kind of fell flat on their face. This year they are doing all the little things that matter, staying focused, communicating, not getting upset — all the things we didn’t last year.”

Throughout the season, Castillo referenced the team’s energy and its intensity. Even though Vets jumped out to 4-0 and 9-5 leads in the third set, there wasn’t a sense that Sharyland was losing control.

“Honestly it was great, from the moment we got here we were pumped and we stepped onto the court to practice with all the energy in the world,” said Hernandez, who added a pair of aces and blocks to go with her eight kills. “We knew if we worked together as a team we had it, and in the end we did. That’s what we’ve been doing all year.”

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FALFURRIAS — Kaitlyn Martin and Alicia Ziegler have shown bigger and brighter flashes of greatness for McAllen Memorial as the season has progressed.

Thursday, they displayed no flashes.

Just greatness.

The Mustangs middle hitters/blockers were the game changers Thursday, leading McAllen Memorial to a 19-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 15-10 victory over Gregory-Portland during the second round of the UIL Class 5A state volleyball tournament at Falfurrias Junior High.

“They were more than game-changers today,” McAllen Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing said. “They built momentum for us and stopped it a lot of times for them.”

The two middles played large, combining for 17 kills, 11 blocks and a host of other G-P attacks they were able to get touches on to help their defense. Ziegler finished with 11 kills and two blocks while Martin contributed six kills and nine blocks.

Memorial will play the winner of Flour Bluff and Sharyland Pioneer in the Region 4-5A quarterfinals at a time yet to be determined. Pioneer and Flour Bluff play at 6 p.m. today at Falfurrias High School.

Memorial’s performance offensively may have been the most impressive this season. Slugger Amare Hernandez blasted 20 kills while Leah Garcia and Madisyn Sosa each hammered 11 kills to go with two blocks apiece.

While point of contact to attack sometimes looked more like something from the Family Circus, the Mustangs didn’t let those lapses last long. Part of that issue stemmed from a Gregory-Portland team that used every possible trick, from tips to the middle to second-ball pushes deep and to the corners, or cut at a harsh angle to massive attacks from their big hitters Madison Kilgore and Morgan Suggs.

But, they didn’t have an answer for Martin and Ziegler.

“Coach told us to keep our hands on the ball and we were trying to pick up their offense,” Martin said. “We were looking to be effective on offense too.”

“They had no block in the second and third set, they were just not there – just needed to use them more,” Ziegler said. “They were blocking the outsides so there was nobody left. It started working for us so we just kept going with it.”

This story will be updated.

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ELSA — McAllen Memorial stepped onto the Edcouch-Elsa volleyball court with one thing on its mind — taking care of business.

A couple minutes more than an hour later, business was complete as the Mustangs quickly finished a dominant performancewith a 25-8, 25-14, 25-14 win over the Yellow Jackets in the UIL Class 5A bi-district round of the state playoffs.

The first order of business was to stop, or slow down, E-E’s all universe hitter, Vida Ybarra, and the Mustangs did that byblocking her twice during the first part of the first set, and when she tried to go around the block, libero Kassie Falcon and otherMustangs defenders were in position to keep the rally alive.

Ybarra still scored her points, being the main go-to player in any of the six rotation positions, but the Mustangs didn’t make iteasy for her, forcing E-E out of system often and keeping the players on their heels with powerful attacks of their own.

Leading that surge was junior Amare Hernandez, who seemed to have a little more lightning to go with her thunderous ground-seeking missiles. Hernandez ended the night with a match-high 17 kills, and Madisyn Sosa and Leah Garcia – all three arejuniors — each added six kills, and Alicia Ziegler tallied five kills and four blocks.

“We didn’t come in taking them for granted because we know they have a great hitter,” Hernandez said. “But I think it wasimportant to stay on our ‘A’ game and run fast plays before we go up North.

“It set a tone for the other teams. It lets them know we aren’t here to play around, and I think it’s important to take it veryseriously but take it calm as well.”

(Check out the photo album from the Memorial vs. E-E game here: https://rgvsports.com/albums/mcallen-memorial-vs-edcouch-elsa-volleyball/99/)

McAllen Memorial will play Gregory-Portland in the second round later this week with time and place to be determined. G-Pdefeated Mission Veterans in five sets Tuesday night.

Ziegler, along with fellow middle Kaitlyn Martin and Leah Garcia, provided a nearly impenetrable wall for Ybarra or any of theother E-E hitters to attack through. Ybarra found some openings with harsh cuts during some of her attacks and a couple downthe line, but the Mustangs kept their focus on slowing her mighty swing down.

The plan was to watch her and see how she plays and adjust to how she’s hitting today because it can change,” Ziegler said. “Itdefinitely set a serious tone for us blocking their best hitter, and it sent them a message.

“We’re here for business. We are here to win this in three.”

Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing, who has talked all year about “hiccups” the team would go through in matches, said it wasnice to see those getting worked out.

“It was nice to watch them move in unison on the defensive end, especially because of all the big guns we’re going to be seeing,”she said. “We’ve been working a ton on defense all last week and they played great. For a small body, Kassie (Falcon) takes up alot of court.”

Most impressive about Falcon’s performance Tuesday was that she never seemed out of place, where she would have to sacrificeher body for a save. Instead, she read nearly every attack from Ybarra with a keen eye, and pinpoint passing led to several quicktransition attacks for Memorial.

“I just did what I always do, play my best and give it everything I have,” she said. “We kind of changed our defense and we arerunning a read defense, and I play at the six and it gives me more room on the court and doesn’t keep me limited to my spot.”

This will be the third straight year Gregory-Portland and McAllen Memorial will meet in the playoffs. Memorial won two yearsago, and G-P earned revenge last year.

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PHARR — Joseph Trevino took over the Pharr IDEA volleyball program and immediately made some changes.

During that time, he added a strength and conditioning program and got the team involved in summer leagues all the while telling them, “trust the process, trust what I’m doing.”

The Lions bought in and now will play their first ever postseason match at 6:30 p.m. today at IDEA Brownsville Frontier in the bi-district round of the Class 3A UIL state playoffs. The Lions finished second in District 31-3A, with a 14-2 record, both district losses coming to Donna IDEA.

“It’s very scary but we also find it as a great opportunity,” senior setter Valerie Rodriguez said. “For the seniors, it’s our last chance to go at it and give the team a chance.”

Rodriguez said the team faced hurdles on and off the court, but that those challenges made them stronger and put them in position to reach their playoff goal.

“We usually play how we feel and we will pick each other up,” Rodriguez said. “If we put each other up, we usually have a really good game regardless of what the other team has.”

Sophomore hitter Aylen Flores said this year’s squad is like comparing night and day to last year’s team. A lot of the transition can be attributed to the upgrades Trevino implemented since his arrival.

“We started working during the summer and you can see the difference,” Flores said. “We didn’t have technique then and we didn’t have the bond we do as a team. We definitely grew as a team and went from one of the last teams to a top-three team indistrict.”

Other Class 3A games being played today include Rio Hondo at Donna IDEA at 6 p.m., Edinburg IDEA Quest at Weslaco IDEA Pikeat 6:30 p.m., and Alamo IDEA at Lyford at 7 p.m. See the complete RGV playoff schedule at RGVSports.com.

“The girls bought in to the process and their goals were to have a shot at district and make it to the playoffs,” Trevino said. “Thegirls who are seniors is the first group I started with. They reached their goals and this (playoffs) is our first rodeo. We need to make sure we buckle down and play the way we know we can.”

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EDINBURG — Coaches throw out the idiom that “we just want to be better every day.” It’s said so much it may have lost its impact on the ears it falls upon.

Whether it’s cliché or it’s what they live by, the Edinburg Economedes volleyball team took it to heart Friday, putting together their best performance of the season to clinch a spot in the playoffs with a 25-19, 25-22, 25-21 over Mission High.

The teams finished tied for the fourth and final playoff slot in District 31-6A. Now, Economedes will look to be “better again,” asthe Jaguars will travel to Harlingen for a 6:30 p.m. bi-district match Monday against the District 32-6A back-to-back championCardinals.

But, for the moment, Economedes is going to celebrate their first playoff appearance in 12 years, according to head coach Crissy Soto.

“We are ready,” Soto said. “I feel like this is the best game we’ve had and we couldn’t have asked for better timing.”

Led by the Jaguars’ triumvirate: Sidni Alvarez, Nayelis Mendez and Dana Serna, Econ overcame an 8-1 deficit in the third set. Alvarez and Mendez attacked consistently while Serna attacked, played defense and set up most of the Econ attacks.

Others, however, showed up as well for the Jaguars, especially their middles Jocelin Rosas and Patty Garcia. The tandem’s threat often held blockers to give the other hitters 1-on-1 opportunities at the net. But they also created some offense with some kills, tips and crucial blocks especially against Mission’s big hitter Kayla Alaniz, who kept the Eagles in each set.

“She came out of nowhere,” Soto said about Rosas. “This whole week we’ve been working on trying to finish games and this week was about working the plan and both middles came out here and were doing well.”

The Jaguars had to overcome several tough losses after leading sets. Soto, Serna and the team, however, worked to get throughthose and Friday’s team clearly wasn’t the same team that hit the floor a month ago. While some mental errors still floatedaround, they were fewer and farther in between. Come crunch time, nobody looked at someone else to make a key pass, set orswing.

“This is the biggest thing I wanted to do,” said Serna, a senior. “When I first got here everyone would say Jags aren’t good, Jagsthis, Jags that — you’re not going to accomplish anything. Our sports are put down, ‘Oh, it’s just the Jags.’

I wanted to make a difference. I wanted us to show that you can come from a place that doesn’t get a lot of money or thatdoesn’t have the privileges other schools have and still you can make a difference. It takes everyone coming together to make adecision to make a difference.”

Trailing 12-7 in the third set Economedes went on a 9-1 run behind a kill from a falling backwards Mendez and Bianca Coronadoace. Mission regained the lead at 17-16 but after another Alvarez kill and a pair of floor finders, including one a quick set fromSerna to Alvarez, the Jaguars completed the sweep.

Mendez finished with a match high 23 kills while Alvarez added 17. Serna contributed 28 assists and Jackie Maldonado added16.

“I knew from the beginning w had something special. We just haven’t been able to put it together. Everyone is going to make amistake. We cant’ put each other down. We can’t say that’s your fault or that was your ball or whatever. We have to cometogether — it doesn’t take you, it doesn’t take me, it takes all of us working together as one.”

“That’s what we’ve been instilling in them. It’s not, ‘just Econ,’” Soto said. “We want to make a name for ourselves, create alegacy. We walked in today with our heads up and shoulders back and that’s what we’ve been working on. Today, this is ourtime.”

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EDINBURG — So much for preseason polls.

When Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV step on the court today, it will be a matchup of teams predicted to finish fifth and seventh, respectively, by prognosticating coaches, sitting near the middle of the pack.

Instead, the Lumberjacks are third in the Western Athletic Conference with a 7-2 record, while the Vaqueros sit atop the conference with a perfect 8-0 mark.

The squads are two of only 10 teams out of 345 NCAA Division I schools to have tallied 19 wins so far this season. SFA is 19-3, while UTRGV is 19-4.

With the second half of conference play barely starting, today’s game — a 6:30 p.m. start at the UTRGV Fieldhouse — has major implications within the standings. Sandwiched between the two teams is Utah Valley, with a 7-1 record.

“This is going to be a big game,” said Sarah Cruz, the team’s leading hitter and the most recent recipient of the WAC Offensive Player of the Week, the third time this season she’s been awarded the honor. “They are one of the best teams in the WAC and I hope a lot of people come out to support us. We’ve got to show up, do what we’ve done the past games and do our best.”

The Vaqueros have won 24 of 31 sets since WAC play began, sweeping three of those matches. They also went 2-0 on their recent road trip, beating Grand Canyon 3-1 and California Baptist 3-0.

“Those were big wins on the road,” UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery said. “GCU and Cal played well, and to drop just one set was great for our team. Their resilience at the end of sets, especially when they are down and are able to come back was the key.

“Sarah had to do it against a committed block in both matches and still got points while also playing good defense.”

Cruz leads the team in kills, averaging 4.29 kills per set during conference play while middle blocker Luisa Silva Do Santos has the team’s highest hitting percentage at .303.

“Since we started at the beginning, we felt this would be a pivotal match and it’s a big one for us to go out and get,” Lowery said. “The way the standings have worked out has elevated this match a little bit but we just have to go out there and take them one at a time. Obviously this was a match we were looking forward to.

“They are low error, much like Grand Canyon. We have to play clean, go out there and get points, score at a high efficiency, defend well and put pressure on them.”

This will be the 19th matchup between the two teams in a series dating back to 1982. SFA has a 17-1 record against the Vaqueros. The last time the two teams played, UTRGV claimed a 3-0 sweep in 2016. SFA joined the WAC last season.

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