NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — In the third set, McAllen Memorial junior Demy Banks leaped up and blocked a shot straight down. The ball fell to McHi’s side of the net. Point Mustangs, and half of the crowd went wild. Banks had three solo blocks on Tuesday night. Each was crucial as Memorial outlasted rival McAllen High 21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-27, 15-11.
“A moment like that, especially in volleyball, everything is moments,” Banks said. “A big block like that just lifts the entire team’s atmosphere, and it just carries you to victory. It helps everybody go.”
The Mustangs were on their heels early, dropping the first set 21-25. But they turned it on during the second and third sets.
Memorial looked like it was ready to wrap up the match in the fourth set. The Mustangs served for match point at 24-23, but a block from Gonzalez put the score at 24-24. The match was tied again at 25 before the Bulldogs extended the match to a fifth frame.
“You have to treat every set individually. Every match individually,” Memorial coach Lorena Lopez said after the match. “That’s something I think we struggle with. We need to focus where we’re at and get it done, but we were able to do that tonight.”
Defense, like Banks’ blocks or the 12 total blocks in the match, went a long way. Valeria Lopez paced the team in digs with 22, while Sophie Villarreal and Sydney Marburger added 14 apiece.
“Defense against a team that knows how to hit the ball is one of the most important things,” Banks said. “It’s the first line of defense. It sets up everything in the back row, and without it, it would just crumble apart.”
Lexi Gonzalez was a standout again for the Bulldogs. She put down 32 kills and was a big reason the visitors were never out of the match. She added 12 digs, three blocks, two aces and two assists. Madison Helmcamp led McHi with 43 assists.
Jocelynn Everage was strong for Memorial, leading the team with 22 kills. With the dual attack of Everage and Trevino (18 kills), McHi faced a difficult task in trying to key in on either defensively. Evelyn Whitworth was the third Mustang in double figures for kills with 12.
“We’ve been playing against each other, and with each other, for so many years,” Everage said. “These games are so personal, and they could go either way, but we know if you push and you fight and you want it hard enough, you will win.”
The match was Everage’s fifth this season reaching 20 kills. She celebrated 1,000 points earlier this season and said the rivalry brings out another gear for the offense.
“I feel like this game brings it out of us,” Everage said. “We want to win. We want to do everything special that we can to get the points and get it done with. They’re a great team, and they’re always going to fight back.”
Tuesday’s match marked the first time Memorial dropped a set since an Aug. 26 matchup against Laredo United in tournament play. The Mustangs improved to 4-0 in 30-6A with a Sept. 29 match against McAllen Rowe looming on the horizon.
“For big games like this and playoffs, they need to just know that it’s going to be a tough match,” Lopez said. “I thought today we started off really slow. That’s something that we need to work on as a program to know it’s not always going to be a slow-tempo match. You got to be able to play a quick-tempo match from point No. 1.”