There’s still work to be done for some schools before the UIL state volleyball tournament begins Monday for all classes across Texas.

That work mostly consists of breaking regular-season ties.

Edinburg High and Edinburg North are among the teams that will face each other for the third time this season to decide who earns second place, and plays District 32-6A’s third-place team, Brownsville Rivera, and who ends up in third and plays state-ranked Los Fresnos, which finished second in 32-6A, falling to district champ Harlingen High during the final day of the scheduled regular season.

“Everybody wants the highest seed possible, but once you get to the playoffs you never know. A lower seed can beat a higher seed,” Edinburg North coach Raul McCallum said. “Sometimes in the past, some kids might be comfortable because they are just making the playoffs, but these guys are hungry.

“As soon as I asked them what they wanted to do — flip for seeding or play — they said we want to play. At his level, in the playoffs, everything is different, even for a seeding game.”

District 31-5A’s playoff teams are set. Sharyland High finished district with a four-set in over Sharyland Pioneer on Tuesday and won the title with a 17-1 record, one game ahead of McAllen Memorial at 16-2. The two teams split their head-to-head matches.

Sharyland will host District 32-5A’s No. 4 team Brownsville Lopez at 7 p.m. Tuesday, while McAllen Memorial and Edcouch-Elsa meet for the second straight year at a place and time to be determined. Meanwhile, Sharyland Pioneer will also play at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Brownsville Pace. Brownsville Veterans, the District 32-5A champ, will also travel to face the No. 4 seed of District 31-5A, McAllen Rowe at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

District 31-5A has swept District 32-5A in each of the past two years during bi-district play.

In District 30-5A, Roma and Laredo Nixon tied for third and will play their match for seeding at 11 a.m. Saturday at Roma. This is the second straight year the Gladiators are in the postseason after “being off for a while,” according to head coach Angie Garcia.

“This is always a great feat for the girls; it shows the work they’ve put in,” said Garcia, who has been at the helm since 2006. “Ever since the offseason, I would tell them this is where you put the work in to see where you end up.

“This is going to be an even match and it comes down to who is going to be more mentally tough and can restart after every game, whether it goes three, four or five sets, you have to restart. Physically, we know we’re ready. Now it’s about showing up and being tough.”

Roma and Nixon split the regular season matchups with each team winning at home.

Another position matchup takes place at 4 p.m. Friday as La Feria treks to Grulla to determined third and fourth place.

EDINBURG — PSJA High never seemed to be a threat Tuesday in the third set of their District 31-6A match against Edinburg North.

The teams split the first two sets and the Cougars held leads of 6-0 and 16-8, winning every facet of the set, offensively and defensively. The Cougars were in command.

Then, suddenly it seemed, the Bears faced three set points after slowly getting back into the match. When Johanna Montelongo smashed a North service return that went long, the Bears had completed what looked to be an improbable comeback.

The fifth set, however, was different as PSJA jumped out to its own 6-0 lead and never stumbled to claim a 22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-14 victory.

It was a critical match for both teams. The win pushes the defending district champion Bears to 8-0 in district. Edinburg North dropped to 6-2, both losses coming to PSJA. Edinburg High began the night 5-2. PSJA has Edinburg High and Mission remaining on the schedule.

The Bears had lost each of its last two trips to Edinburg North. Another loss would have put the teams into a tie for first.

Julianna Guajardo and Montelongo paced the Bears’ offense with 16 and 10 kills respectively. Chloe De La Rosa contributed nine kills and Ilana Vallejo added six. After some changes to the defense, which played sloppily especially in the first set, Alexa Carranza tallied 25 digs and Serenity Lopez added 14. Setter Victoria Gonzalez finished with 30 assists, 10 digs and one block.

Montelongo said the team started out terribly slow, but part of that was Edinburg North’s early attack and finding the openings in the back row.

“We set up our back row to cover the line because they tend to hit down the line a lot and then they started hitting 6 (a spot on the court) so we had to shift over,” Montelongo said. “I had a slow start, but after the (crowd sang) Happy Birthday to me that got me going and even though I was down, my team was motivating me.

A distraught North team that had piled on attacks from hitters Etsel Ramirez, Gaia Benesperi and Maya Espinoza and extended rallies with a solid performance from libero Gaby Espinoza, just couldn’t recover after the fourth-set collapse. PSJA pressed from behind the service line to extinguish a rally before it started.

“We just kept pushing and cheering and wanted to get in their heads,” Montelongo said. “What really helped out were our serves they couldn’t pick up in the fourth set. Lexci (Reyes) is a freshman, and she served great in the fourth. It was tough but we pulled through.”

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The UTRGV volleyball team improved to a program-best 5-0 in WAC play Thursday by defeating Sam Houston 26-24, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18 at Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville.

The previous best start in conference play was 4-1, by the 2017 and 2018 teams.

The Vaqueros (16-4, 5-0 WAC) also tied the program record for best road start at 6-2, a feat previously accomplished in 2021 and 2018.

The Vaqueros remain off to their best start in NCAA Division I program history. The previous best 20-match start was 14-6 in 2018.

With 16 victories, UTRGV moves back into a tie for the most wins in the NCAA, along with Towson (16-0), Jacksonville State (16-1), Western Kentucky (16-2), and Stephen F. Austin (16-3).

Senior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros with 16 kills and 10 digs for her seventh double-double. Junior Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded 11 kills with two blocks. Sophomore Claudia Lupescu posted 10 kills with nine digs and two aces. Sophomore Luanna Emiliano dished out 43 assists with 11 digs and three kills for her 13th double-double.

Catherine Krieger led the Bearkats (6-13, 3-2 WAC) with 15 kills. Alyssa Fielder finished with 14 kills and 12 digs.

UTRGV will play next at 6:30 p.m. Monday against New Mexico State at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The Vaqueros swept New Mexico State in the WAC opener on the road.

The game will be broadcast domestically on ESPN+ and internationally on WAC International.

EDINBURG — UTRGV is ranked No. 55 in the first NCAA Div. I volleyball RPI rankings, released earlier this week.

It’s the highest ranking in program history for the Vaqueros, who are off to a 15-4 start and 4-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.

The RPI (ratings percentage index) is a number used to rank teams based upon its wins and losses and its strength of schedule.

Texas, Louisville, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Stanford are the top five in the poll this week.

UTRGV is ahead of some major programs including Duke (60), UCLA (69), Arizona (74) and Oklahoma (106).

“I think it’s a testament of the schedule we put together and the girls taking care of some of the wins on the way,” UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery said. “The big thing is when we create our schedule we give ourselves this opportunity. If the girls can walk through the door and win some of those big matches early on in preseason, this is a result of it.”

Three teams the Vaqueros have already played are ahead of them in the poll including UNLV (44), Texas Tech (35) and SMU (50). The Vaqueros held match point against UNLV (12-3 overall) before a collapse. They also held a 2-0 lead against Texas Tech (13-3 overall) before falling 25-22, 25-21, 15-13 in the final three sets.

UTRGV is looking to start 5-0 for the first time in the WAC on the road at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Sam Houston (6-12 overall, 3-1 in the WAC). It will be the 20th matchup between the two teams. UTRGV won last year’s meeting in five sets.

Stephen F. Austin (15-4 overall) is the next highest ranked WAC team at 70th and the only other WAC team in the top 100. UTRGV and SFA play at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

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MCALLEN — Shiela Zamora and Gaby Estringel had the toughest job in the gym Tuesday night.

Today, they’re probably getting a promotion for a job well done.

The two McAllen High hitters/blockers did what they were tasked to do against an army of next-level smashers and helped lead their Bulldogs to a stunning upset over city rival McAllen Memorial in five-set 2.5-plus hour mega-match 27-25, 14-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13.

Memorial won the first matchup this season in four sets and Tuesday’s matchup was similar to the old fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. Smooth and steady won the race, again.

The win improves McHi to 8-4 in district, tied with McAllen Rowe for the fourth – and final – postseason berth. McAllen Memorial falls to 10-2, two games behind unbeaten Sharyland High. Those Sharyland Pioneer is 9-3 and in third place in the district. McHi plays Pioneer on Saturday while Memorial travels to Sharyland High.

Zamora, a senior middle, tallied seven kills and five blocks. She and Estringel also put their hands on several attacks, giving their sure-and-steady defense plenty of chances to extend rallies.

Estringel, a freshman, blasted 15 kills, tied for the team lead with junior Katherine Williamson. Estringel’s performance was a glance into what the future may look like for the powerful lefty.

“Experiences like tonight are when players grow up the most,” second-year head coach Michael Smith said. “It’s great to get the win but she’s a player who works had and was ready and her teammates were able to get her in great positions.

“They (Shiela and Gabby) knew they had to get out there and get even the smallest touch on as many balls as possible on Amare (Hernandez) to help our defense. She’s the best hitter in the Valley and she came out to play and washitting some hammers to the floor.”

In a sport defined by kills and power blocks, defense on Tuesday may have been the biggest difference between the teams. Memorial went through several streaks, described as hiccups by head coach Ashley Doffing since the beginning of the season, where the Mustangs couldn’t seem to find accuracy in their passing to get the offense rolling. They struggled often times to get their hitters set up. They also watched several balls hit the line, or well inside the line, they thought were heading out. Those unforced errors kept a less powerful, but much more consistent, McHi squad in the match.

When the Memorial offense was in sync, however, Hernandez was her dominant self. She finished with a match high 23 kills and three blocks. Teammate Madisyn Sosa added 13 kills and four aces with her laser-like topspin jump serve.

The Mustangs finished the match with 64 kills compared to 50 for McHi. Those numbers could’ve been a lot different if not for the Estringel and Zamora’s performance up front and a slew of defenders behind that first line.

“We had practice yesterday and it felt a lot like today,” Zamora said. “I knew what my job was and knew I had to get it done. I did what was asked of me and gave it all I had.

“We were a little caught off guard with their middle attack but we made some adjustments. This was my last Memorial game so it was great to win this one.”

While the McHi defense deservedly kept their focus on Hernandez, Sosa and the rest of Memorial’s outside arsenal, it was middle Alicia Ziegler and Kaitlyn Martin that made a huge impact especially early on, putting away quick sets with kills or tips to open spaces. McHi’s defense in those cases was a half-step behind.

“It was definitely something we had to adjust to,” Smith said. “We know what they have from the outside but they have two really good middles. Once Alicia and Kaitlyn got going we had to adjust.

“We have a lot of players who are really good at picking up balls and we are an extremely deep defensive team so we try to make them do some different things and make the most of it. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls tonight.”

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EDINBURG — For the second time in a month, UTRGV played in a set where the final score was 33-31, the highest scoring volleyball match in program history.

Last time it happened, the Vaqueros lost that set and won the match.

This time, they won the set to go up two sets to none, and then needed Sarah Cruz to explode down the stretch in the fifth set as UTRGV claimed a 25-20, 33-31, 15-25, 9-25, 15-11 victory over visiting Utah Tech on Thursday in a WAC matchup at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

The win gives UTRGV a 14-4 overall mark but, more importantly, a 3-0 record in WAC play. Utah Tech fell to 6-6 overall and 0-3 in the conference. UTRGV plays WAC opponent Southern Utah at 1 p.m. Saturday at home.

After struggling throughout the match, even a bit in the first two sets, UTRGV rallied in the fifth. The 6-foot-2 graduate student tallied four of her match-high 23 kills during the final six points to avoid what looked to be an improbable loss with the huge two-set lead.

“I tried to step up a little bit more for my team because I thought they needed me at that moment. You can’t be afraid to score,” said Cruz, who throughout the match also found openings with her effective roll shot, often times going undefended and falling to the open spot. “I talk a lot with my coaches and teammates, and they always tell me what spot is open and where I can score so that helped me, and then I’m sure when I do it it’s going to score.”

UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery said that part of the near collapse was a combination of players trying to do too much and possibly getting a bit too comfortable after the first two sets.

“They caused us some problems, but hats off to our girls to regroup and then go and be really good in the fifth set,” Lowery said. “We weren’t very crisp. That’s for sure and it started at Set 1. I think they tipped or rolled the first nine balls and we let them fall. That’s something we’ve been really good about not letting happen. We had to make some adjustments.

“I know we had some communication issues and started feeling the pressure a little bit and had kids trying to do too much. That hasn’t been the strength of this team. We haven’t relied on somebody having to go do too much – and once we settled back in then we were OK.”

Junior Luisa Silva Dos Santos contributed 12 kills and sophomore Perris Key continued her resurgence following an early season injury. Following a career-tying 10 kills against Tarleton St. on Saturday, Key, from Katy, Texas, collected nine kills Thursday. The outside hitter, who even started at middle blocker at least one time last season, is 5-foot-8 with a vertical that lets her rise above most blockers.

Libero Regina Tijerina tallied 21 digs and setter Luana Emiliano added 50 assists and 17 digs for UTRGV.

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MISSION — When Sharyland High’s America Hernandez serves, everything isn’t just about blasting aces.

But she’s certainly tallied a lot of them. In fact, the Rattlers’ senior outside hitter set the school record Saturday for aces in a career when she hit, then surpassed, the 200 mark against crosstown rival Sharyland Pioneer in a three-set sweep.

The win was the 27th straight for Hernandez and the Rattlers, and it completed the first round of district play with Sharyland in first place and a 9-0 district record.

Last year, Hernandez at one point was listed as the national high school leader in aces according to MaxPreps.com. She finished the season with nearly 140 aces.

Head coach Raul Castillo preaches to his teams that “they are not one-dimensional players.”

“They should want to be multi-dimensional players when they’re one the court,” Castillo said. “That’s one of (America’s) strength.”

Always a strong hitter and defender — she could also reach her 1,000th dig this season — Hernandez realized that powerful arm that she uses for kill after kill could have the same results behind the service line.

“The summer before her junior year, she wanted to work on her jump serve, so we worked on some things like the toss and where she should be taking off from,” Castillo said. “She loved the topspin, and since then she just brought it.”

Hernandez’s biggest goal was learning how to contain that much potent potential in such a small area.

“I know it’s all about placement, about controlling it and catching people out of their place,” she said. “If they’re very deep, I’m trying the topspin to drop it in front of them. If they’re up, I’ll serve a deep floater and try to get them out of their serve-receive rotation.”

That comment also shows the increased maturity Hernandez has when stepping up to serve. While the great servers look amazing when their meteor goes crashing untouched through their opponents, it is oftentimes just as effective when it’s not an ace.

“That’s the thing with serving. It’s a mental part of the game because of the distance you are away and you want them to serve aggressively and with high speed and velocity, trying to get those defenders to mess up,” Castillo said.

“A lot of times she wants to score every point but she also knows when there are great passers so she sees how much she can throw their off they game, get them out of system. That’s good enough for us and we’ll capitalize it on the next play.”

Hernandez said that it’s also about building momentum, registering aces are great, but rallying with multiple points because of tough serves is just as critical to match flow.

With almost the exact same team, last season remains burned in the Rattlers’ memory. Playing in district where the top six or seven teams could compete for the playoffs in some other districts, Sharyland remembers finishing 7-7 a season ago and missing out on the postseason. The Rattlers were one of five teams in the district to be ranked in the state at one point or another during last season according to the Texas Girls Coaches’ Association. But the ranking didn’t give them any type of free pass into the postseason.

“Last year, we were the same team,” Hernandez said. “We worked hard last year and this year but what came together was the chemistry. It’s so insane. We know mistakes will be made but there is always someone who is there backing each of us up.”

Castillo said last year was an eye-opener for his squad. It made them hungrier for different results. Now they have one more time through the district with eyes on the postseason and the District 31-5A title. They hold a one-game lead over McAllen Memorial (8-1) and a two-game lead over McAllen High, McAllen Rowe and Sharyland Pioneer, all at 6-3. Only the top four teams advance to the playoffs.

“We had all that talent and didn’t make the playoffs,” Castillo said. “We have to hit it hard. Nobody in this district is going to give you anything. It’s been fun to an extent. Being the underdog, you have nothing to lose. Now, the expectations are high and we have to maintain.

“They know how things went last year. This year, they’re a little more focused.”

And, it’s probably fair to say, they have a few aces up their sleeve to help as well.

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PHARR — Leading 24-21 and for the entire set to that point, Edinburg Economedes opened the door for PSJA High.

The defending District 31-6A champions saw the opening and came pouring through it. Julianna Guajardo and Johanna Montelongo combined for 28 kills and seven aces and PSJA completed a 25-13, 26-24, 25-16 over Economedes in the district opener for both teams.

Economedes led 8-2 early in the second set and held leads of 13-8, 20-13 and 23-18 behind the impressive play of setter Dana Serna, and hitters Nayelis Mendez and Sidni Alvarez. Leading, however, late in the set, communication melted away and the Jaguars committed unforced errors that allowed PSJA to make the comeback, leading to the sweep.

PSJA High head coach Caroline Cuellar said she wasn’t surprised to see Economedes put up a strong fight.

“We knew they finished on a strong note last year and they had some big wins in the second round. We were lucky to face them early,” she said. “They have some strong girls and we watched film and broke it down, and we knew who they were and what they could do.”

The PSJA coach, who is closing in on her 100th career win, said her squad has learned from early in the season from matches where they would be in a hole and couldn’t climb out.

“I think this was a familiar situation for them. We started this season very weary and very doubtful in ourselves,” Cuellar said. “We would lose close games because of the way we started and wouldn’t be able to come back. They went back to their roots and dug in deep today and fought back.”

Serving for set point, Economedes tallied an attack error, giving the ball to Guajardo at the service line. She racked up the final five points, claiming one of her aces.

“I think our girls may have been a little content after the first set, but the way we started the second set is not acceptable,” Cuellar said. “I had to use both of my timeouts in the first 15 and that was tough for me.”

Victoria Gonzalez had 31 assists and Alexa Carranza totaled 21 digs for PSJA.

After the match, the Bears celebrated senior Serenity Lopez for her 1,000th career dig and junior Victoria Gonzalez for her 1,000th career assist.

While the Valley’s Class 5A districts have been in district play for more than a month, 31-6A and 32-6A have just recently started district play due to the UIL’s realignment that created 10-team Valley districts in 5A and six-team districts in 6A.

“That gave us more time to build our chemistry as a team. We had time to mature mentally and figure out our identity,” Cuellar said. “I told the girls we are a smaller district but not an easier district. Sure, we lost three teams, but Edinburg North, Mission, Edinburg High and ourselves have been at the top the past two years, so it’s definitely not easier, just smaller.”

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EDINBURG — McAllen High committed 16 service errors Saturday against Edinburg Vela, most of them coming in the first and third sets.

So, late and during one of the most intense and important moments of the match, McHi freshman Katelyn Pritchard served up three of her team-high five aces and the Bulldogs went on 5-0 run. Later, teammate Leah McClenny hit the back line on a serve that Vela watched to tie the match at 13 during the final set, and the Bulldogs claimed a 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-10, 15-13 victory in a key District 31-5A battle.

McHi improves to 5-2 in district while Vela falls to 3-4. Sharyland High leads the mangled district standings at 7-0, followed by McAllen Memorial (6-1). After that, the standings are a mishmash as McAllen High, McAllen Rowe and Sharyland Pioneer are tied at 5-2, followed by Vela, still looking to take down one of the Big Five in front of them to stay in the postseason race.

“We need to continue to have that aggressiveness and need to have that confidence, and now we see what we’re up against in this district,” said Vela head coach Araceli Ortega, whose team was moved to Class 5A — and District 31 — arguably the toughest district in South Texas following the most recent UIL realignment. “We saw we can play with these teams. I think we cut ourselves short a lot of the times because we’re the new team on the block. But we can battle these teams. There’s light at the end of the tunnel and we can win.”

While the Bulldogs had 16 service errors compared to seven for Vela, they also tallied 17 aces. Following Pritchard was Bella Rivera with four aces and four others with two apiece.

“It was just get them over and get them in. There’s a little stress, but in the end you have to keep fighting,” Pritchard said. “I was looking for holes, and would go there and see they would get stressed out or nervous and I’d keep at it.”

There were five lead changes in the final set, which only runs up to 15 points to determine a winner. McHi committed two service errors and trailed 5-4 early before a Shiela Zamora kill put Pritchard up to serve.

“We’re looking to make no more than 2-3 (service errors) and we want to be making it tough for them to pass,” McHi second-year head coach Michael Smith said. “At the end of the day, we can’t make many of those mistakes and give them points either. But we’re bringing it tough and we had a lot of aces today.

“That was such a huge spot for (Pritchard) to come in and be able to convert those serves. She’s a quality player, and it all starts in preparation and she’s a hard worker. We’re able to trust her in that spot, and it’s not a concern for us when she’s in that spot.”

Katherine Williamson paced the McHi offense with 20 kills while Gabby Estringel added 10 and Zamora nine. McHi also had to overcome being blocked 12 times on attack attempts.

“It’s not always about the kill,” Smith said. “We want to do things to limit their ability. Every time you attack, if you’re putting the other team in tough situations then you’re able to keep them from doing the things they do well.”

There’s only two more matches for each team to complete the first round through district. McHi hosts Sharyland High on Tuesday and travels to Valley View on Saturday. Meanwhile, Vela hosts PSJA Memorial and then PSJA Southwest.

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UTRGV saw its program record 11-match winning streak come to an end with a 25-23, 18-25, 25-16, 25-21 loss to SMU at the Red Raider Classic on Friday at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock.

UTRGV looks to start a new winning streak at 2:30 p.m. today against host Texas Tech.

Senior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (11-2) with 15 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Sophomore Claudia Lupescu posted 13 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double. Sophomore Margherita Giani recorded nine kills on an error-free .474 hitting and three blocks. Sophomore Perris Key posted eight kills. Junior Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded seven kills with three blocks. Sophomore Luanna Emiliano dished out 42 assists with 15 digs, four kills and two blocks for her ninth double-double. Junior Regina Tijerina finished with 19 digs, five assists and two aces.

UTRGV extended its winning streak earlier in the day by beating Oral Roberts 25-18, 27-25, 15-25, 26-16.   

The Vaqueros (11-1) are off to their best start since becoming a Division I program in 1985.

It was the first victory for UTRGV against Oral Roberts, losing the first three meetings, one at home (2010), one on the road (2008) and one at UTSA in 1995, the first time they met.

In a well-balanced attack, Cruz led the Vaqueros with 15 kills and 12 digs for her fourth double-double. Santos recorded 11 kills on an efficient .435 hitting with a career-high eight digs and four blocks. Key posted a career-high nine kills and a season-high five blocks. Lupescu posted eight kills and nine digs.

Emiliano continued her impressive sophomore campaign dishing out 43 assists with a season-high 19 digs for her eighth double-double. Tijerina finished with 19 digs.

UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery now has 28 neutral site wins at UTRGV, breaking the previous program record of 27 held by Dave Thorn (1998-06). The winningest head coach in program history, Lowery now holds 14 different coaching records.

The Vaqueros’ only other loss came in their season opener against UNLV in five sets and UTRGV was one point away from claiming the match in the fourth.