GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
ROMA — As the final serve of the McAllen High volleyball season smacked into the net for a match-ending error, the Lady Bulldogs looked at each other in stunned silence.
McHi entered 2015 with expectations of a deep postseason run. Instead, the team was dealt a 25-21, 25-19, 25-16 loss against Laredo Alexander on Tuesday in the bi-district round of the Class 6A playoffs.
“I think the pressure kind of got to us today,” junior Taylor Helmcamp said. “We usually fight back, and for some reason today we didn’t fight back until the very end. We usually come out more fiery than we did today.”
McHi reached the Sweet 16 last season for the first time since 2005. Returning from that group were three All-Valley underclassmen to complement a six-player senior class.
The team stormed out to a 29-1 record in non-district matches, climbing to the No. 1 spot in RGVSports.com’s top 10. Among those wins was a 25-18, 25-9 victory against this same Alexander team during the Poundfest Tournament.
“They’ve improved since last time we played them,” Helmcamp said. “And we improved since the last time we played them. So you never really have the same matchup twice. They did come out very strong, and they really wanted it. I think that they wanted it a little more than we did. It just kind of slipped away.”
McAllen High looked out of sync from the start of the match. During the first 10 points, McHi let an ace fall between defenders and sent a set into the referee stand, dropping into a 7-3 hole. As quickly as McHi pulled the score to 8-7 in its favor, Alexander answered with another run to go up 13-9. McAllen would get within two, but never any closer.
“We just didn’t execute our fundamentals very well,” McHi coach Paula Dodge said. Our passing was off, and when that happens, it’s hard to get an offensive attack going. That’s basically it. It was the fundamentals. We didn’t execute well. We had balls dropping that normally wouldn’t drop.”
McHi jumped out 14-10 in Game 2, but Alexander ripped off seven of the next eight points for a 17-15 lead.
McAllen managed to level the match at 18 before Alexander again won seven of eight points to claim a 2-0 advantage.
Despite the deficit, McHi’s players still seemed in good spirits, smiling to each other during the team huddle. Dodge said she reminded the team of how it got to this point.
“We’ve worked really hard in practice,” Dodge said. “We have to do these things right. We have to be confident about playing the ball and wanting the ball to come to us, and being able to get the job done.”
Alexander built a 9-3 lead in Game 3 and quickly extended that edge to 17-6. McHi never got closer than eight points, sealing the team’s first bi-district exit since 2012.
The loss ends the careers of six seniors, including defensive specialist Alli Amaya, middle blocker Hannah Bishop and setter Alexis Giusti.
But McAllen High also returns a number of key pieces for next season. Juniors Helmcamp, Sydney Pemelton, Julia Monday and Kellie Woodin, plus sophomore Carter Helmcamp, will all be back.
“I just told them that I’m very proud of the way they conducted themselves both on and off the court,” Dodge said of her postgame message to the team. “They’re a great group of young women and good athletes. The seniors, we definitely feel bad for. It hurts a lot.”