By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Considering it split a share of the district title a year ago, Edinburg High middle blocker Tianna Howard senses the urgency in every 31-6A match, even early in the season.
Last year, the Lady Bobcats needed a five-set thriller to split the season series with Edinburg North late in the season, forging a two-way tie for the district crown. So when the two schools met again Saturday, Howard delivered one of her better performances, notching 24 kills, two blocks and one dig to lift Edinburg to a 17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 14-25, 15-11 victory at home.
Howard capped her day with a kill off a lob from Dezi Marmolejo, sealing the Lady Bobcats’ upset over Edinburg North (21-10, 2-1), the No. 7-ranked team in the latest RGVSports.com top 10 poll.
“This means a lot,” Howard said. “We want it to be our goal to win district by ourselves this year, and we’re determined to do it.”
Howard helped Edinburg (23-5, 3-0) climb out of a 1-0 hole after a series of attack errors. The Lady Bobcats’ middle blocker scored three straight kills to start Game 2, and Yessi Molina (9 kills, 17 digs, 13 assists) added another to force an Edinburg North timeout.
Marmolejo, one of two setters in the Lady Bobcats’ offense, assisted on each of those scores. Clinging to a 24-23 edge, Marmolejo then found Howard for a kill before delivering an ace of her own that evened the match at 1-1.
“We had a slow start,” Dominguez said. “Girls were putting pressure and expecting to happen right away. It makes it difficult to get our offense started, but they just battled back. I’m proud of the girls for finishing.”
Splitting the district crown last year, Dominguez said Saturday’s win served as a measuring stick, even with North returning four players from last year. Nine players moved up from either the JV or freshman team. And next year, the Lady Cougars expect to undergo a rebuilding project of sorts, with 10 seniors on the team.
Still, North coach Adrian Cavazos said his team “has come a long way from where we started.” They dropped only their 10th game of the season in their 31st match, with Victoria Rogers coming up big for the Lady Cougars.
The sophomore middle/outside hitter, in her second year on varsity, recorded 37 kills, 23 digs and one block, while Ayissa Maldonado contributed 49 assists, 10 digs and two aces on Saturday.
Rogers scored the first five kills in Game 5, prompting Edinburg to call for time. She kept North in the game, scoring off an assist Maldonado to make it 24-16 and forcing a decisive fifth set from there. It nearly atoned for a match that was filled by missed opportunities for North, including an array of attacking errors into the net and dropped balls.
“It’s just one (game) on the schedule,” Cavazos said afterward. “I mean, yeah, it’s Edinburg High. But bottom line is, it’s still a district game. It’s a district loss right now, so we have to put ourselves in position to avenge that in the second round.”