MISSION — McAllen High spent the early portion of Friday with several “pull a rabbit out of the magic hat” type of saves as it clawed, scratched and dug its way to victories in the first two matches during the second day of pool play at the Sharyland Volleyball Tournament.
Ada Sadlier and Celina Saenz changed that in what could be considered the premiere matchup of the day — McHi, with a 22-1 record, versus District 31-5A foe Sharyland High with a 22-3 mark.
Saenz, one of the toughest and most consistent hitters in the Valley, tied the game at 5 with a kill and McHi went on a 20-12 run to claim a first set 25-17 win. Then, Sadlier had three kills within the first five points of the second set, as the Bulldogs improved to 6-0 in the tournament with a 25-17, 25-18 win over the Rattlers. It was McHi’s second victory over the Rattlers during the tournament portion of the season.
McHi struggled throughout its first two games against Brownsville Veterans, losing the first set 26-24 and trailing in the second 18-11, before a ferocious comeback led to a 26-24 win and was followed with a 15-5 victory in the third set. The Bulldogs then battled again against Edinburg Vela in the first set before pulling off a 25-22, 25-14 win to set up the showdown with Sharyland High.
In the other pool to decide who would advance to today’s gold bracket, Sharyland Pioneer, another District 31-5A power, swept San Benito, Brownsville Rivera and Harlingen High to also go 6-0 during the two days of pool play. The Diamondbacks didn’t drop a set through the first two days.
All games today will be played at Sharyland Pioneer. In the gold bracket, McHi and Rivera will kick off the day at 9 a.m., Sharyland High and city rival Sharyland Pioneer will play at 10 a.m. and the championship match is scheduled for noon.
Sadlier, one of the Bulldogs’ big four hitters, missed the previous two weeks but returned this week.
“I think she’s done a great job of coming in and taking her role back in the offense,” McHi first-year head coach Michael Smith said. “We knew she would have a big role this season. It takes a lot of pressure off some of the other girls. I’m not sure she’s even 100%.”
Sadlier, who finished with five kills against Sharyland, one behind Celina Saenz with six, said she spent a lot of time thinking and watching film during her two-week quarantine.
“It felt really, really good to support my team in that way and make such a statement,” she said. “To have the opportunity to get some of that energy out there and make a statement was great.”
The Bulldogs also kept the hard-hitting Rattlers off their game for the most part with aggressive serves from Kaydence Pritchard and Aleah Saenz, and some stubborn defense from Sharian Ruiz and Giuli Ornelas.
In fact, while the offense started slow it was those other two areas that helped the No. 6-ranked volleyball team in the state in Class 5A, according to the Texas Girls Coaches Association, keep rallies alive — or slow other teams from cranking up their offense consistently.
“One of the things I tell them before every single set is that we have to do this together and today we had to have that mindset,” Smith said. “I put a lot of pressure to be able to serve tough and the girls have done a great job executing that this weekend.
“We want to keep the other team out of system and are excited when the other team has to ball to pick it up and punish their mistakes and make sure we make the other team do something that’s difficult for them to do.”