BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
ROMA — A refrain that is oh so familiar echoed throughout the gym at Roma Middle School:
“Sweet 16,” shouted the McAllen Memorial volleyball team, along with their families and supporters.
An even more familiar line led to Memorial clinching a forth-consecutive trip to the Class 6A Regional Semifinals: Mustangs beat Bulldogs.
Junior Demy Banks has played Laredo Alexander each of the past two years. She also watched her sister Draik Banks, another Memorial standout volleyball player, battle with Alexander all four years of her career.
“It’s almost like a family tradition,” Demy Banks said.
Memorial bested Laredo Alexander 27-25, 25-23, 13-25, 25-22 on Tuesday in a Class 6A Regional Semifinal matchup to again earn the distinction as the last Valley team left in the playoffs.
“I’m super excited and relieved for the seniors especially,” Memorial coach Lorena Lopez said, “I’m especially excited for our seniors. They have been to the sweet 16 every year, and the expectations are really high.”
The first set swung back and forth as the teams traded the lead, and momentum. It was extremely close, and both teams were scoring quickly. It almost felt as if the set could go on forever, but Banks and senior Jocelynn Everage were there to seal the deal.
“Jocelynn is our rock,” Lopez said, “She is the one we look to, to get the kill, make the pass, get the ace. And she has done that every game this season. You look at the girl’s stats and she just doesn’t mess up. It is incredible.”
Banks finished with 14 kills and four blocks. Everage added 19 kills and one block.
Alexander hung tough and took a lead in the second set, leading 18-14. But Memorial would not be denied, tying the second set at 21 before pulling away to get the win.
“Our confidence definitely did waver a little bit,” Everage said. “I’m just glad we have the confidence and will power to come back from that and get the win.”
Alexander took the third set, but Memorial picked up a few key points down the stretch to slow Alexander’s momentum.
“Even if you are not going to win the set, you have to push points, get momentum back,” Lopez said. “That’s what volleyball is, it’s all about momentum.”
The fourth set again teetered back and forth, but it was a crucial timeout by McAllen Memorial — which was down 20-19 at the time — that allowed the Mustangs to seal the match. Demy Banks powered home point after point down the stretch to secure the set.
“Demy has incredible fire,” Lopez said. “That is why she is able to come out big in these matches, because she loves the competition, she lives for the big moments. The fact that she embodies that — and it affects the entire team — when she is in there, it just fires everybody up. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
After the match there was time to celebrate, but history waits on the other side of Memorial’s next match, and the Mustangs are eager to get there.
“This has been the expectation all season, so I feel both very proud and also relieved,” Lopez said. “But we are not done. We want to break through the semifinals, even though the odds are stacked against us.”
With this being Lopez’s final year as the volleyball coach, the players are fighting for her.
“In her last year, to make it past the semifinals would be amazing,” Banks said. “It has never been done at Memorial, so that is history. Especially with it being her last year, we want to give her everything we have.”