BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Throughout the district season, McAllen High coach Paula Dodge had seen losses to sister schools eat away at her players. The two setbacks against Rowe and one to Memorial had been a thorn in the side of the Lady Bulldogs.
So on Tuesday, in the final all-McAllen matchup of the regular season, McAllen High responded with what Dodge called “the best game we’ve played.”
The Lady Bulldogs scored a resounding victory, taking down the Lady Mustangs 25-20, 25-14, 25-20 at McAllen Memorial High School.
“The key was the fire we had from losing three other games,” McHi setter Carter Helmcamp said. “I think it just built a fire in us to finish as strong as we could and play the best. I also think we’ve been working way harder, because we knew we had to play better this time around.”
McHi’s win all but clinches the District 30-6A title for McAllen Rowe. The Lady Warriors sit atop the standings at 10-1 with just one match to play. The Lady Mustangs are 8-2, and the Lady Bulldogs are 8-3.
McAllen Memorial coach Lorena Lopez saw the pressure of trying to secure a share of the title affect her players Tuesday, as the Lady Mustangs repeatedly missed their mark on the attack. Memorial had 21 kills against 22 attack errors.
“It was us feeling the pressure and making uncharacteristic errors, with the combination of McHi playing like I remember McHi can play,” Lopez said. “This was a big one for us to still try to clinch having a share of the district title, so I think that weighs heavily on a teenager.”
The Lady Bulldogs, on the other hand, entered the match having already locked in the district’s No. 3 seed.
Helmcamp said losing two four-set matches against Rowe and a five setter against Memorial was especially difficult because of the expectations that accompanied last year’s outright district title. That pressure was off on Tuesday, and it showed.
“We knew we were going to get third win or lose this game tonight, so we came out here with no regrets and just played like we should have,” Helmcamp said. “We just had fun.”
The Lady Bulldogs seemed to be in complete control the majority of the night. McHi took the first and second games without ever trailing, then ripped off a run of 12 unanswered points in the third to take a 13-6 lead.
Julia Monday finished with a team-high 12 kills, while Sydney Pemelton had 9 with 3 blocks and Helmcamp had 6 with 9 assists. Lexi Giusti had a match-high 27 assists to go with 3 kills, 2 blocks, 4 digs and an ace.
Tuesday’s match was the first of the six between two McAllen schools to end in three games.
“I think this game shows us that we are still capable of playing like we did in the beginning of the season,” Helmcamp said. “This just showed us we’re looking good for playoffs.”