By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
It took one game for the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons to adjust as they knocked off the McAllen Memorial Lady Mustangs 28-30, 25-21, 25-20, 25-17 in the area round, setting them up to face the winner of Edinburg North and McAllen Rowe in a regional quarterfinal.
After dropping a back-and-forth Game 1 that needed extra points to decide, the Lady Falcons rallied to win the next three games.
“I switched my middles after the first game,” Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. “And I took (Jackie Kingsbury) out of the back and put a defensive player in. (McAllen Memorial) had a great serve. They were fast, they have good hitters, they were energetic.”
McAllen Memorial‘s Taylor Marburger opened the match with back-to-back aces, and it appeared Los Fresnos was in for a long night after falling behind 11-5 out of the gate. But the Lady Falcons pieced together a string of runs and trailed 19-17 before they won six of seven points to put themselves in a position to win.
However, neither team seized the opportunity to close the other out. And after an extended game, Helen Kang had a kill and Allie Nitsch served up an ace for the McAllen Memorial to take a 1-0 lead.
Starting with Game 2, Los Fresnos began chipping away at the Lady Mustangs.
Though McAllen Memorial was ahead 20-17 and appeared in position to take a 2-0 lead, Los Fresnos came out of a timeout and won eight of the next nine points — aided by multiple McAllen Memorial attack errors and two kills by Joseline Caraveo — to stun the Lady Mustangs during Game 2.
It was evident that the Lady Falcons were getting better as the match progressed. They were in control most of the third game, taking a 13-7 lead after a pair of Sam Ibarra kills. Despite a Lady Mustangs rally after a timeout to tie the game at 19, Los Fresnos went on an 8-1 run to close out Game 3.
The Lady Mustangs held close during the early stages of the fourth game, but Los Fresnos maintained an edge before winning five straight points to take a 19-13 lead. The teams exchanged points until the end, when Peyton Sales floated the ball over the net and it fell untouched to seal the match for the Lady Falcons.
“It was a hard-fought game,” McAllen Memorial coach Lorena Lopez said. “Los Fresnos is a tough team. We gave them everything we had, and it wasn’t enough.
“It’s been a pretty successful season. We were in a tough district, and we won bi-district. Overall I’m happy with the season. We’ve got young kids in key positions. I’m looking forward to next year.”
Los Fresnos will have to wait until the conclusion of Saturday’s match between Edinburg North and McAllen Rowe before it knows who it will face in a regional quarterfinal. A win for McAllen Rowe would set up a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, and Woods wants it this time around.
“It’s our turn,” Lady Falcons coach Becky Woods said. “It’s our turn to beat (the Lady Warriors) if they win.”
Nitsch led the Lady Mustangs with 12 kills, and Marburger led all players with 29 assists. For the Lady Falcons, Ibarra and Caraveo each led the match with 13 kills, and Sales had 20 assists.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.