NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Los Fresnos and McAllen Rowe were back on the court to face each other Tuesday after meeting just a few days ago in the gold bracket third-place match of the McAllen Poundfest.
After five long sets, the Warriors came out on top over the visiting Falcons 20-25, 26-24, 13-25, 25-15, 15-12.
McAllen Rowe looked like a team still working out some early season kinks, while Los Fresnos took advantage of any mistake the Warriors made early in the match. But as time went on, a familiar force, Jackie Alanis, took over the match and secured the win for the Warriors. She had 46 kills, 47 digs, three aces and a block.
“It’s good to have a game like this, because we’re getting for district,” Alanis said after the victory. “Games like this help get us ready for the McAllen schools like McHi, Memorial. Los Fresnos is a good team. I’ll give them that. They were picking up almost everything. And that’s exactly what McHi and Memorial will do. They’re going to give a good game. They’re going to give us a fight.”
Los Fresnos put up strong efforts in the first three sets. The Falcons were the first team to break away after both teams exchanged points for much of the first set. Veteran Falcons coach Becky Woods said that Tuesday’s game is the type of contest every team wants early.
“I wish we could play (competition like) this all year long, because they prepare us for the end,” Woods said. “It prepares for district. It prepares us for playoffs. It’s always a great game between us and Rowe. And we took them to five. They probably have one of the best, if not the best, hitter in the Valley — and my girls were picking it up. They were digging those hits. I’m proud of them. In that one game, we blew them out.”
The second set started hot for Los Fresnos. The Falcons jumped out to a 5-0 lead, including a point due to an illegal rotation from the Warriors — an infraction they would repeat twice in the match. However, the Warriors were able to overcome the slow start behind the hitting of Alanis and the defense of their middle blockers.
The third set was even uglier for the Warriors, and they weren’t able to claw their way back like in the previous set. The visiting Falcons looked poised to get the better of Rowe and redeem their loss over the weekend at Poundfest.
Instead, Alanis rallied the troops and led by example on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
“Every set is a new set,” Alanis said. “I tell my team: ‘Forget about the last set. It’s a new game. We’re starting all over. It’s 0-0. This is where we start strong. This is where we finish strong. We play our game. We don’t play down to their level. We play with energy — with momentum. We play together. That’s how we just forget about the games. That’s how we push through the sets.’”
The Warriors received contributions from sophomores Anna Hornrubia as well as middle blockers Victoria Galindo and Lauren Moubray to thwart Los Fresnos’ hitters.
Hornrubia posted 11 kills, 26 digs and three aces. Jewel Palomo had 31 assists and 15 digs, while Samantha Sifuentes added 22 assists and nine digs.
Los Fresnos’ Anahi Loo and Danielle Galan were key to slowing the momentum of Rowe’s Alanis and Hornrubia.
“I’m sure I speak for a lot of coaches right now: It’s early in the season, so we are trying to find the right combination of kids and the communication factor,” Rowe coach Magda Canales said. “They’re trying to learn to read each other or know who plays how deep or how short and all that. It has a lot to do with still building the chemistry on the team.”