Deadly efficient offensively and in never-ending relentless pursuit on defense, Sharyland Pioneer made it look easy in its District 31-5A opener at home on Tuesday, sweeping a hungry Edinburg Vela team that is expected to be fighting for a playoff position at the end of the season, 25-13, 25-22, 25-15.

The performance was just another Pulitzer submission in the Pioneer series on “how to win on the volleyball court.” Using precise passing, refusing to let the ball touch the floor and showing a wide variety of offense, Diamondbacks’ head coach Laura Cavazos is already calling this team “special.”

“I think it all comes down to serve receive and passing,” said Cavazos, whose team improved to 13-2 overall. “I felt like today our passing defensively, we were able to get Hailey the ball in system most of the times and deliver. When we can deliver, we can open up our offense a little bit more and more spots are available to swing. The hitters when the green light was on and they knew they were going to put that ball down.

“We have several hitters who can do that and felt on but it’s a testament to our defense,” Cavazos said. “They all played so well in the back row and that was our goal coming off the Mission tournament was to be more efficient with our passing and transition.”

Defensively, at least on two occasions, Vela began to cheer for a point that instead turned into an improbable save and counterattack by Pioneer. On another occasion, the SaberCats started celebrating a point quickly stopped to look over their shoulders to make sure the point was officially over, and returned to enjoying the point.

Pioneer isn’t a team that’s just going to overpower its opponents, even though middles Scarlet Verjel, Itzel Hernandez and outsides Elle Hill and Izabella Cano showed some extra pop during a few attacks, especially during the third set. However, as the Diamondbacks showed on Tuesday, they will be in the right places at the right times, will not beat themselves up with unforced errors and will make the easy things look easy – and effortless.

Verjel paced the Pioneer offense with 12 kills, Cano and Hill added eight each and Hernandez tallied seven in a well-rounded performance.

“This was a really big game starting off our district season,” Verjel said. “I think we did a phenomenal job to win 3-0. There were some struggles here and there but we came back and won.

“When we see everyone hustling we just want it more – when they dive for a ball it makes the hitter just want to get a kill. We started off really strong and just knew it was going to be our game.”

Setter Hailey Botello dished out 28 assists to go with 11 digs and libero Florencia Curiel had 18 digs and three assists. Curiel was also a human highlight film, one time looking more like a shortstop diving fully extended on an attack that most certainly should’ve been a Vela point. Instead, Curiel’s dig led to just another routine rally and Pioneer picked up that point.

“I read it well and just put myself out and my teammates got a point out of it,” Curiel said. “I think we have to have the mentality of having the next play but I think we did a good job of not letting anything get to us. We made a few mistakes but we got back quick as a team.”

 

 

 

 

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Reported scores and stats from Tuesday, Aug. 28 games around the RGV. Coaches please text your scores and state leaders after each game to (956) 821-3834. Please include your district and overall records.

District 31-3A

IDEA Quest def. IDEA Alamo 25-21, 29-27, 15-25, 25-20

District 32-3A

IDEA Frontier defeats Santa Rosa 3-0 (scores, stats not provided)

Frontier: 1-0 in district, 7-3 overall

District 30-5A

Laredo Martin def. Juarez-Lincoln 25-15, 25-7, 25-10

Mission def. Laredo Nixon 25-12, 25-8, 25-18

Palmview def. Laredo Cigarroa 25-18, 25-19, 25-20

Mission Veterans def. Roma 25-16, 25-22, 25-14

District 31-5A

PSJA Southwest def. PSJA Memorial 14-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 15-11

Sharyland High def. McAllen Memorial 25-17, 25-15, 25-21

McAllen Rowe def. PSJA North 25-8, 25-12, 25-14

Sharyland Pioneer def. Edinburg Vela 25-13, 25-22, 25-15

District 32-5A

Harlingen South def. Brownsville Rivera 22-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-13

Mercedes def Donna High 25-22, 25-22, 25-14

Non-District

Laredo Alexander def. PSJA 25-17, 25-14, 25-19

McAllen High def. Los Fresnos 25-12, 25-18, 25-21

DISTRICT 30-5A

MISSION DEF. LAREDO NIXON 25-12, 25-8, 25-18

MISSION (1-0 in district): Kayla Alaniz 7 kills, 1 block; Joslyn Rodriguez 11 assists, 1 block, 2 ace serves; Vanessa Espinoza 5 kills; Victoria Guzman 2 blocks

PALMVIEW DEF. LAREDO CIGARROA  25-18, 25-19, 25-20 

PALMVIEW (1-0 in district): Miley Zieske 16 kills, 4 assists, 16 digs; Jessica Arévalo 16 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill; Valeria Gauna 15 assists ; Kylie cantu 2 digs, 3 blocks, 4 assists

MISSION VETERANS DEF. ROMA 25-16, 25-22, 25-14

MISSION VETS (11-2, 1-0): Sophia Pacheco 11 kills, 5 aces, 6 digs; Delilah Cantu 6 kills, 2 aces, 2 digs, 4 blocks; Mady Perez 24 kills, 1 ace, 10 digs; Heather Flores 2 kills, 36 assists, 7 digs; Evioria Garcia 2 aces, 16 digs

DISTRICT 31-5A

PSJA SOUTHWEST DEF. PSJA MEMORIAL 14-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 15-11

PSJA SW (1-0 in district):  Angelica Martinez: 13 kills, 3 aces, 12 digs; Valerie Valls: 3 kills, 2 aces, 7 digs; Naomi Sedas: 10 kills, 3 blocks, 4 aces, 6 digs; Alexa Perez: 12 kills, 3 blocks, 5 digs; Melissa Rodriguez: 4 kills, 10 digs; Jisela De Hoyos: 1 kill, 1 dig; Viktoria Garza: 1 assist, 2 aces, 26 digs; Pamela Bracamontes: 1 assist, 10 digs; Yasmin Chavez: 21 assists, 2 aces, 10 digs; April Purselley: 44 digs, 1 ace

SHARYLAND HIGH DEF. MCALLEN MEMORIAL 25-17, 25-15, 25-21

Pamela Pena 8 kills, 1 block, 3 aces; Kenisha Martinez 9 kills, 1 block; Ivana Adame 2 kills, 3 blocks; Kassandra De La Garza 6 kills, 13 assists, 2 aces; Maria Rodriguez 2 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace; Jayleen Berlanga 14 assist, 2 acess; Renata Cantu 1 block

SHARYLAND PIONEER DEF. EDINBURG VELA 25-13, 25-22, 25-15

PIONEER (13-2, 1-0):  Florencia Curiel: 18 digs, 3 assists, 1 ace; Izabella Cano: 14 digs, 8 kills, 2 aces; Hailey Botello: 11 digs, 28 assists, 1 kill, 1.5 blocks; Elle Hill: 3 digs, 8 kills; Scarlet Verjel: 4 digs, 12 kills, 2 aces, 1 block; Itzel Hernandez: 7 kills, 3 blocks; Sofia Chapa: 8 digs; Danica Gonzalez: 6 digs, 2 aces; Ava Saenz: 1 dig, 1 kill, 1.5 blocks

MCALLEN ROWE DEF. PSJA NORTH 25-8, 25-12, 25-14

Rowe (1-0 in district):  Hailey Gonzalez 3 kills, 6 digs; Aubry Castro 6 digs, 2 aces, 11 assists; Brianna Sanchez 3 kills, 12 digs; Kendyl Keenan 7 kills, 2 digs, 3 blocks; Audrina PErez 3 kills, 2 digs; Lynette Palacios 4 kills, 4 aces

NON-DISTRICT

McAllen High def. Los Fresnos 25-12, 25-15, 25-21

MCHI:  Braelyn Martinez 1 kill, 7 digs, 4 aces ; Kaylen Ottmers 2 kills, 10 digs, 3 aces, 2 assists; Yaneli Rocha 38 assists, 4 digs, 2 kills; Izabella Palacios 6 kills 2 digs; Giulliana Trevino 3 kills 2 digs; Alyesha Morin 7 digs ; Mackenzie Davidson 2 kills 1 block ; Katelyn Vaden 10 digs 3 aces; Isabella Rivera 8 kills 2 digs 2 blocks; Gabriela Estringel 14 kills 5 digs 1 block; Karely Cantu 4 kills 1 dig 2 blocks

 

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Laura Cavazos and the Sharyland Pioneer volleyball program know how to churn out quality setters similar to how Rolex creates quality watches. Both seem to understand the concept of perfect timing.

Pioneer’s Hailey Botello was a perfect example Saturday afternoon as the Diamondbacks swept all three of their matches, including a 25-19, 25-24 victory (the set was capped at 25) over a quickly improving McAllen Memorial in the finals of the Mission CISD Volleyball Tournament at Mission Veterans High School.

The win improves Pioneer to 12-2 overall while Memorial dropped to 13-3.

Botello, a setter who wasn’t expected to play the position a year ago but got thrown into it after Pioneer lost two setters to injuries prior to the season, looked right at home commanding her troops. She looked especially in charge as a stubborn Mustangs squad refused to give anything away down the stretch in the final set.

Botello used her team’s balanced attack to keep Memorial just enough off-balanced to capture the win. She finished the match with 23 assists and five digs. Three different Diamondbacks tallied six or more kills, led by Scarlet Verjel with nine, Isabella Cano with eight and Itzel Hernandez with six.

“I gathered my team together after every single play and told them they had adjusted to us,” Botello said. “I had been throwing them off in the middle for a while. They started doing some one-timer things that worked and I told the team if the ball drops we’re going to get the next point anyway.”

The second set was tied at 18, 20, 21, 22 and 24. That’s when Hernandez, a sophomore, scored off a quick kill in the middle giving Pioneer a 25-24 victory.

“It’s still early in the season and, despite who we go against, it’s about making us better and fine tuning what we’re doing,” Cavazos said. “We fell maybe a little complacent or just kind of settled. I think we refocused during those final points.”

Botello was named tournament MVP while teammates Florencia Curiel and Cano were named to the all-tournament team. Memorial’s Karly Bazan and Ana Davila were also selected to the all-tourney squad.

“Spreading out our offense is really important and she (Botello) is doing a really good job of that.” Cavazos said. “We’ve been pushing her, especially during the past two tournaments to distribute the ball pretty equally to get them going. Then, once we’ve developed the hot hand to feed them the ball so we can get some points and rallies going. I think she did a great job and the hitters in the front row executed really well.”

Pioneer returns to action Friday and Saturday as they co-host the Sharyland ISD Tournament. The Diamondbacks open District 31-5A play at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3 at home. Memorial will also play Friday and Saturday at the Sharyland Tournament, then opens district play at 7 p.m., Sept. 3 at home against McAllen Rowe.

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Today’s schedule for the Mission CISD volleyball tournament

At Mission Veterans

Gold bracket

Palmview vs. Mission, 9 a.m.

Mission Veterans vs.  McAllen Memorial, 10 a.m.

Sharyland Pioneer vs.  Palmview/Mission winner, 11 a.m.

PSJA vs. Mission Veterans/McAllen Memorial winner, noon

Championship match, 1 p.m.

Silver Bracket

Valley View vs. Juarez-Lincoln, 9 a.m.

Harlingen vs. PSJA Southwest, 10 a.m.

Rio Grande City vs. Valley View/Juarez-Lincoln winner, 11 a.m.

Weslaco East vs.  Harlingen/Southwest winner, noon

Championship match, 1 p.m.

At Mission High school

Bronze Bracket

Edinburg North vs. Mercedes, 9 a.m.

Mission Veterans JV vs. Juan Diego Academy, 10 a.m.

Economedes vs. Edinburg North/Mercedes winner

PSJA North vs. Mission Vets JV/Juan Diego winner, 11 a.m.

Championship match 1 p.m.

Ruby Bracket

Grulla vs. Mission JV, 9 a.m.

Donna vs. Grulla/Mission JV winner, 10 a.m.

Donna North vs. La Joya 11 a.m.

Championship match, Noon

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Following are reported scores and stats from Tuesday night’s high school volleyball matches. Coaches, please text your results – with your record and leading stats – after each match to (956) 821-3834 or email to [email protected].

 

Juarez-Lincoln def Donna North 25-23, 25-18, 25-18

J-L: Kimberly Reyna 9 kills, 3 blocks; Sophie Pena 6 kills, 1 ace; April Marroquin 22 assists, 6 aces; Alex Marroquin 5 aces, 2 blocks, 2 kills; Katelyn Garza 9 digs, 3 kills, 1 ace.

McAllen Rowe def. Brownsville Veterans 25-17, 25-13, 25-18

ROWE:  Hailey Gonzalez 8 kills, 2 aces, 14 digs; Brianna Sanchez 3 kills, 1 ace, 9 digsKendyl Keenan 9 kills, 4 blocks; Katelyn Tarbutton 5 kills, 1 block; Lynette Palacios 5 kills7 digs, 1 block

McAllen Rowe def. Brownsville Lopez 25-13, 25-16, 25-8

ROWE: Hailey Gonzalez 9 kills. 6 aces. 10 digs; Aubry Castro 12 assists, 8 digs; Brianna Sanchez 6 kills, 2 aces, 10 digs; Kendyl Keenan 4 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks; Katelyn Tarbutton 2 kills, 1 dig, 1 block; Audrina Pena 7 kills, 2 digs; Andrea Gutierrez 1 kill, 5 digs; Lynette Palacios 1 kills, 2 aces6 digs.

IDEA Pharr def. La Grulla 25-19, 25-16

IDEA (4-0): Aylen Flores 4 blocks, 6 kills; Daniella Pezino 3 kills, 3 aces; Karla Amador 3 kills, 2 blocks

Edinbug Vela def. San Benito 25-11, 25-12, 25-20
VELA (9-2): Abby Zamora 9 kills, 7 assists, 4 pts, 7 digs; Lauren Hanson3 kills, 28 assists, 14 pts 2aces, 5 digs; Maddy Luedeker 18 kills, 11 pts 4 aces, 2 blocks, 10 digs; Abry Ysquierdo 4 kills, 1 ace, 3 digs; Mia De La Garza 18 digs, 1 kill, 5 pts, 1 ace, 4 assists; Ava Tovar 7 digs, 3 pts, 1 ace; Ameryss González 4 kills, 2 digs, 1 blk;  Daya Meza 6 pts 4aces, 2 kills, 2 blk; Gloria Salinas 4 pts, 11 digs; Savanah Rivera 6 kills, 2 blks; Fernanda Valdez4 assists, 6 digs, 2 points

McAllen Memorial def. Rio Grande City 15-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-13

MEMORIAL (8-2): Larae Jones 5 kills, 2 aces; Karly Bazan 8 kills; Natalie Rangel 5 kills, 2 aces; Ana Davila 13 kills; Jozlin Rodriguez 2 aces, 9 digs, 24 assists; Katelyn Cavazos 12 assists, 4 digs; Juliet Trevino 2 aces, 19 digs

Mission def. Weslaco 25-16, 25-13

MISSION:  Kayla Alaniz 3 kills, 1 block, 1 ace; Vanessa Espinoza 3 kills, 1 ace; Breanna Longoria 6 kills, 1 block, 1 ace; Joslyn Rodriguez 10 assists, 1 ace

PSJA def. PSJA North 25- 15, 25-13, 25-23
PSJA (6-6):  Julianna Guajardo 15 kills, 12 digs, 5 aces; Kamila Figueroa 3 kills, 2 blocks; Ave Dominguez 5 assists, 8 digs; Nia Sanders 17 assists; Lexci Reyes 12 digs ; Katherine Herrera kill, 3 digs; Miranda Zamora 2 kills, 6 digs; Nayeli Ostolaza 1 block; Ana Ostolaza 1 block; Ava Castillo 3 digs; Aubrey Garza 4 kills

Flour Bluff def. Goliad 16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 

FB (7-3):  : Lola Fisher 23 assists, 9 digs; Ashby McCracken 12 assists; Maggie Croft 19 kills, 14 digs, 4.5 blocks; Kate Croft 8 kills; Alyssa Thornton 6 kills. 2 blocks; Addison Mayo 25 digs; Aliyaha Thornton 2 blocks

Other scores (No stats provided)

Edinburg def. Palmview 23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 16-14

McAllen High def. Mission Veterans 25-12, 25-21, 25-22

Frontier def. Brownsville Porter 25-15, 25-14, 25-22

Economedes def. Weslaco East 3 sets to 2 – no scores or stats provided

Mission High def. Donna 25-2, 25-8

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Mission Veterans freshman Mady Perez was named MVP as the Patriots defeated city rival

Mission High 25-21, 16-25, 15-2 to capture the Donna ISD tournament Saturday Donna High School.

The Patriots defeated Edinburg Economedes before downing Laredo Martin to set up their rivalry matchup. Meanwhile, Mission defeated Brownsville Hanna and Brownsville Pace to reach the title match.

Edcouch-Elsa won the Silver Bracket, while Weslaco East captured the bronze and Donna North the Ruby title.

Along with Perez being named MVP, teammate Vanessa Espinoza was named to the all-tournament team. Also

named to the all-tournament team was Mission’s Joslyn Rodriguez and Vanessa Espinosa, Laredo Martin’s Camila Ontiveros, Pace’s Natalie Sosa and Edcouch-Elsa’s Tamara Leal.

Pioneer, Palmview, Hidalgo at Spikefest

Sharyland Pioneer won all three of its matches during the first day of the Corpus Christi ISD Spikefest tournament and advanced to the championship bracket semifinals before falling to eventual champion Amarillo in a tight 26-14, 25-19 match.

The Diamondbacks then won the third-place match against Calhoun 25-21, 25-16. Pioneer finished third overall out of 32 schools. Amarillo defeated CC Veterans Memorial for the championship 25-15, 25-11.

Palmview advanced to the Silver Bracket and defeated Arlington Heights 26-24, 9-25, 15-12 to advance to the semifinals, bur fell there to San Antonio Lee 25-21, 25-11.

Hidalgo played into the Bronze Bracket but fell to Tuloso-Midawy 25-7, 25-7. The Pirates defeated Arlington Sam Houston during pool play 25-21, 24-26, 15-10.

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To be the champ… do we really need to complete that cliche? How about a little revision – nobody beat the champ.

For the second straight year, Sharyland rose to the top after losing during pool play, winning three straight matches en route to the 18th annual McHi Poundfest volleyball championship. Senior stars Kenisha Martinez and Kassandra scored the final four points off two kills apiece and the Rattlers downed an upstart and strong Edinburg Vela in the finals 25-20, 21-25, 15-10.

Last year, Sharyland lost in pool play during this same event, but won the event, then captured an undefeated District 31-5A title, its second in a row, and went on to keep winning – 44 in a row, the longest in the state at that time.

First-year head coach Lydia De Leon said it’s not time to start thinking about any type of streak but, instead, to focus on one day at a time.

Check out the post-tournament interview below:

The strategy worked Saturday as the Rattlers also went three sets against McAllen High 25-16, 21-25, 15-11 in the semifinals, Sharyland jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the second set before the Bulldogs started reeling them in behind Gabby Estringel and Bella Rivers, closing to within 22-20 on an Estringel tip, then an ace.

But champions are champions for a reason and Ivana Adame’s perfectly placed tip ended McHi’s comeback attempt and created the third set.

In the finals, Vela pushed Sharyland to the limits. The SaberCats improved during each match throughout the tournament and saved their best for last.

Sharyland, however, did the same – and introduced another big offensive threat to join Martinez and De La Garza with Pamela Pena But the Pamela everyone saw at this tournament was leaps and bounds beyond last year’s version and during the third set against McHi in the semis, delivered three straight kills as the Rattlers took the lead and never gave it away.

Throughout the tournament, which started Thursday, Vela had looked like a team just missing either a little chemistry or a piece wasn’t in the right place. Friday afternoon all those pieces were accounted for – from the setting/hitting duo of Lauren Hanson and Abby Zamora to libero Mia De La Garza and the SaberCats bevy of hitters. They went from being a virtual unknown in the 31-5A race to district title contenders by the end of Saturday.

The biggest obstacle – the current champion, the Sharyland Rattlers. But Vela’s emergence onto the scene means that at least six teams – Sharyland, Sharyland Pioneer, Vela and the three McAllen schools – will be battling for four playoff spots.

Vela led 19-18 in the first set of the title bout before De La Garza started a 7-1 run with a kill to tie the set at 19. Pena added a tip, followed by a Renata Cantu block. Pena’s final kill of the set secured it for Sharyland.

There were nine ties in the second set before Vela pulled slightly away thanks it part to three straight Sharyland errors and a Hanson kill for a 17-14 advantage. Hanson added another kill with a tip later in the set and an attack error forced a winner-take-all set.

Sharyland looked to make quick work of that final set, jumping out to a 8-1 lead as Martinez found her groove with four kills during the run. But Vela’s De La Garza started a comeback with a pair of aces, and a Maddy Luedeker kill brought the score to 8-7 and, eventually to 10-9 Vela.

Once again the champion’s persistence came to the forefront and Martinez notched another kill for a 12-10 lead, a De La Garza tip when she was tight on the net made it 13-10. Vela followed with an attack error and De La Garza put an exclamation on the day with her final kill and a Sharyland championship repeat.

Sharyland, which lost to McAllen Memorial on Friday in pool play, has now won four straight – not that anyone’s counting.

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After two days of pool play during the 19th annual McHi Poundfest on Thursday and Friday, one thing is for certain – District 31-5A is going to be brutal once again.

McAllen High, McAllen Memorial and McAllen Rowe all went undefeated for a second day – 6-0 overall each, and District 31-5A – the SEC of South Texas high school volleyball – combined for a 28-2 record heading into Saturday’s bracket play. All five schools from 31-5A advanced to the championship bracket.

The only two losses for 31-5A came from McHi defeating Edinburg Vela, and McAllen Memorial defeating two-time defending district champion Sharyland High.

At McHi, the Bulldogs won all 12 of the sets they played and looked completely dominant most of the day. Gabby Estringel led a powerful front line, including Karely Cantu and Bella Rivera, while also showing some libero-like diving saves. Head coach Estefania Portillo went deep into her talented bench, and every player performed as needed, as expected or better. Sophomore Mackenzie Davidson also had some impactful play time in the middle, providing MCHi with a big block and additional size at the net

The Bulldogs’ defense, sparked by libero Kaylen Ottmers and defensive specialist Braelyn Martinez also played like their school moniker – Bulldogs – serve receiving and passing well to help setter Yaneli Rocha pick and choose which of her arsenal of hitters to choose from. Rocha also showed that defense shouldn’t fall asleep on her, sneaking in a couple of lefty kills throughout the day.

The Bulldogs found themselves in trouble though on a couple of occasions, trailing Edinburg Vela during the first set but then going on a 10-2 run to clinch that set.  They were on the ropes during the first set against PSJA High, led by blistering attacks from the Bears’ Juliana Guajardo, who found her legs and her swing during that match. However, McHi’s resiliency led them to victory.

Rowe swept through its opponents, seemingly with ease with wins over Harlingen South, Port Isabel and Rio Grande City. Brianna Sanchez led Rowe offensively with 19 kills and Kendyl Keenan added 17. Hailey Gonzalez and Katelynn combined for 20 kills. The Warriors will kick off the championship bracket against Vela at 9 a.m. Saturday on Court 1 at McHi. At the same time, Memorial and Los Fresnos will play on Court 2. Rowe and Memorial could meet in the semifinals, which take place at 11 a.m.

McHi opens its day as the top seed and faces Rio Grande City on Court 1 at 10 a.m., while Harlingen South and Sharyland face off at the same time with the winners playing in the other semifinal at noon. The championship match is slated for 2 p.m.

The Silver bracket will take place at McAllen Memorial and the Bronze bracket will be played at McAllen Rowe.

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