By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
WESLACO — The McAllen Memorial Lady Mustangs are returning to the Region IV-6A Tournament in volleyball for the first time since 2010.
The Lady Mustangs earned their trip to San Antonio by triumphing against Los Fresnos 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 on Tuesday during a Class 6A regional quarterfinal match at Weslaco High.
The Lady Falcons were attempting to make back-to-back appearances at the regional tournament, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
The District 30-6A runner-up Lady Mustangs (35-7), ranked No. 4 in the Rio Grande Valley, were on top of their game from the very beginning and never really let Los Fresnos build momentum for any significant amount of time.
It was a night of uncharacteristic errors, hitting and otherwise, for the District 32-6A champion Lady Falcons (39-9), ranked No. 2, who this season pretty much considered anything less than making a return trip to San Antonio a disappointment.
On the other side, there was euphoria among the McAllen Memorial players, coaches and fans immediately after the final point when a Los Fresnos serve sailed long and the Lady Mustangs had swept the match.
“Obviously, it feels amazing to make it to the Sweet 16 of the state playoffs,” Lady Mustangs coach Lorena Lopez said. “I thought it was a competitive match. My girls really prepared and worked hard in practice trying to get ready to defend against a great-hitting team. I think our girls executed everything we worked on well.
“It’s always important to win the first game and kind of get that one in your pocket,” Lopez added. “It gives you confidence to last you through the match.”
The Lady Mustangs and Lady Falcons had played twice earlier this season at tournaments and split the matches.
“I told the girls we needed to come out on fire, and we didn’t,” said Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods, whose team advanced all the way to the regional tournament semifinals last season in San Antonio. “We were flat tonight and just made a lot of mistakes. Memorial came out ready to play.
““We had a good year, and I’m proud of our girls,” Woods added. “It was a good season. We’ve always got next year. This year would have been a good year (to go to the regional tournament), but that’s OK.”
McAllen Memorial advances to play San Antonio Reagan or San Antonio O’Connor at 6 p.m. Friday in the Region IV-6A Tournament at Alamo Convocation Center in San Antonio.
Draik Banks was the leader for Memorial with 13 kills. She also had three blocks. Lanie Nitsch added 10 kills and three blocks, and Allie Nitsch contributed four blocks and four aces.
Also for the Lady Mustangs, Taylor Marburger had 29 assists, 10 digs, one block and one ace. Jocelynn Everage finished with five kills and four digs, and Aleya Campos and Danniella Alvarado had 10 and eight digs, respectively. Campos also served a pair of aces.
Sam Ibarra led Los Fresnos with 10 kills and 11 blocks. Joseline Caraveo, Jackie Kingsbury and Cassie Parra added seven, six and six kills, respectively. Miranda Gonzales contributed 19 assists and seven blocks.
Also for the Lady Falcons, Giselle Ibarra, Kingsbury and Isis Delgado recorded 16, 14 and eight digs, respectively.