Walking into the territory belonging to a heated cross-town rivalry — especially one with a lot of tradition — can be intimidating, especially for a young team.
It’s another area where senior leadership can be so crucial. That showed Thursday as McAllen Memorial claimed a 25-16, 25-21, 25-8 sweep over McAllen Rowe in District 31-5A volleyball at the Mcallen Rowe gymnasium. It was the first match back for Rowe after spending two weeks in quarantine.
The win pushes Memorial to a 7-1 record, best in the district. McAllen High, McAllen Rowe, Sharyland High and Sharyland Pioneer are all fighting for a playoff position. This was the first of two meetings between the two city rivals and Memorial continues its version of “Rivalry Week” on Saturday as the Mustangs play host to McHi. The Bulldogs defeated the Mustangs at McHi in four sets earlier this season.
Memorial’s team runs the gamut when it comes to age and experience with four seniors and four freshmen getting plenty of playing time, and making huge contributions.
“When the seniors step up, everyone else seems to fall in line. It’s so important,” McAllen Memorial head coach Ashley Doffing said. “When that happens, the freshmen are eager to please.”
Memorial needed to defeat Rowe in the final regular-season match last year to end up as co-district champions with McHi. Instead, Rowe pulled off the win.
This was the first meeting since that regular-season finale.
“The girls were excited. It’s a cross-town rival and you always get excited for this type of game and the intensity and you never take it for granted,” said Doffing, in her second season at the Memorial helm. “Winning the first set doesn’t mean anything.”
Memorial trailed in the second set before rallying for the 25-21 win. The match took just a little more than an hour.
“The fact that we were able to come together for that win shows the maturity in the team,” Doffing said. “It’s showing that we are working and doing things right and preparing for the postseason. I’m really excited for the girls.
“There may not be a lot of people at games because of the coronavirus, but walking into a McHi or a Rowe gym is always intimidating.”
Senior Natalie Silva helped lead the team and rarely came off the court, playing all the way around in the rotation. She ended the night with eight kills, 10 digs and five serve receives.
“I told her that in the back row she was going to be the tallest one back there,” Doffing said. “She was going to be the target. She stepped up to that challenge.”
Sophomore Mia Mata led the Warriors with 10 kills, six assists, eights digs and one block. Senior Anna Honorubia had nine kills, one assist, 12 digs, three blocks and the team’s only service ace.
Freshmen Amare Hernandez led the team with nine kills, while Madisyn Sosa, another freshman, added eight kills and two digs. Senior libero Cori Talamantez led the Mustangs defensively with 12 digs and setter Jackie Treviño had 17 assists and a pair of aces.
“I’m very competitive and these girls are competitive and we need to play with intensity all the time,” Doffing said. “It’s a short season so we need to prepare for the postseason.”