BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
McALLEN — Tuesday night’s first game initially had a back-and-forth nature. McAllen High and Brownsville Veterans were deadlocked at 7 before the Bulldogs turned on the jets and left the Chargers in their wake, winning the match in three games 25-16, 25-8, 25-17 on Tuesday night at McAllen High School.
“They played real well tonight,” McHi coach Paul Dodge said. “They were executing things that they needed to execute. They were having fun out there, and that makes a lot of fun for all of us.”
After a 7-7 tie, McHi (18-1) went on an 11-3 run to open up an 18-10 lead. The Chargers capitalized on some of the Bulldogs’ unforced errors with a 5-0 run to pull within three. McHi answered Brownsville Veterans’ 5-0 run with a 5-0 run of its own and would go on to win the game by six.
“We stayed focused,” McHi senior outside hitter Victoria Rogers said. “We kept the energy really high. As a team, we worked together to get to the great pass. Our defense was really good. We were able to read the ball well tonight. Our practices have been helping us to do that.”
The Chargers weren’t able to rally in the second game. The game was a tied at two, but the Bulldogs’ quick rotations and defense at the net led to a 23-6 McHi run to finish the set. The third set wasn’t as one-sided, but the Bulldogs kept the Chargers (10-6) at arm’s length to sweep the match.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do a good job on serve-receives,” Brownsville Veterans coach Elizabeth Mares said. “We were scrambling too much on defense. We have a pretty good offense, but defense is where we’re lacking. Without that, you can’t really run things and use the hitters that we have.”
Rogers had 12 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Lexi Gonzalez led the way with 13 kills and three blocks.
“She (Lexi) has gotten a lot stronger physically since last year,” Dodge said. “The timing, with her and Carter (Helmcamp), has made a big difference for us in these last three weeks.”
“I’ve worked really hard this past year,” Gonzalez said. “I wanted to get better, so I trained and trained, and I think I have gotten better.”
The Bulldogs participated in last week’s Sharyland ISD Invitational Varsity Tournament that was initially scheduled to last three days but was reduced to one due to concerns about Hurricane Harvey possibly threatening the Rio Grande Valley.
McHi essentially got an extra two days of rest to get ready for Brownsville Veterans.
“We lost out on at least three or four games, depending on how far we would have gone in bracket play,” Dodge said. “Sometimes a break is what they need.”