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.”