As McAllen High and Dripping Springs prepare to battle in today’s UIL Class 5A regional semifinal at Corpus Christi Ray High School, the two state-ranked teams come in, as expected, on a roll.
McHi (11-6) has won nine in a row, three in the playoffs against Brownsville Veterans, Corpus Christi Veterans and district and city rival McAllen Memorial, which the Bulldogs split with on the court during the two regular-season matches. Meanwhile, the Tigers (20-5) have claimed eight straight victories, all in 3-0 sweeps including their most recent victory — also against a district opponent in Alamo Heights. Dripping Springs lost twice to Alamo Heights during the regular season before the victory in their most recent battle earlier this week.
Following their four-set win over McAllen Memorial, the Bulldogs are tied for 10th in the most recent Texas Girls Coaches Association Poll, released Monday. Meanwhile, Dripping Springs is ranked ninth.
The Tigers are led offensively by 6-foot outside hitter Mackenzie Plante. The sophomore has registered 279 kills in 79 sets, for 3.5 kills per set, more than double any other player on the team. However, Dripping Springs also had four players with between 124 kills and 128 kills on the season in sophomores Karley Sledge and Ava Williamson, and junior Annabelle Crowder and Madi Lund, with averages of about 1.7 kills per set. Lund is the squad’s 6-foot-3 middle hitter/blocker and has a team high 38 blocks. She’s also second on the squad with a 41.2% hitting percentage.
“They are going to be big and that’s what we told the girls, to protect their teammates,” McAllen head coach Paula Dodge said. “We want to place the ball a little more and keep he ball up and keep sending it back.”
The Bulldogs are led by a trio of hitters who have shared the wealth, usually from setter Madison Helmcamp. Senior Olivia Tite leads McHi with 176 kills in 56 sets and an average of 3.1 kills per set. She is followed by junior Celina Saenz with 174 kills in 47 sets for a 3.7 average per set, and senior Haidee Moore with 132 kills and a 2.4 average in 54 sets played. Moore, the team’s middle hitter/blocker listed at 5-feet-7, leads the team in blocks with 25.
“We can’t set the ball too close to the net, that won’t help us,” Dodge said. “We need to keep moving the ball from pin to pin and hopefully catch that middle getting there late and wear them out. Hoping for some long rallies, or short ones ending by us.
“We need to be aggressive with our serves, that’s one of our weapons and hopefully we can capitalize on that.”
Dripping Springs head coach Michael Kane has coached his teams into the playoffs for 23 straight seasons, including four state championships at Austin St. Michael’s and one at Dripping Springs.
Dodge has the Bulldogs into the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year, fourth time in seven years and sixth time overall, all since 2004.
The match is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The winner advances to the regional finals against the winner of Canyon and Corpus Christi Flour Bluff with date, time and place yet to be determined.