GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
Entering her third season as a starting setter at McAllen Memorial, junior Taylor Marburger is ready to start making all of the calls on offense.
After being part of a two-setter system last year, Marburger and the Mustangs are moving to a 5-1 look this year, which coach Lorena Lopez said will make Marburger the quarterback of the offense.
“It just makes it easier to get a connection for the team,” Marburger said. “We’re seeing how it works, and we’re all doing really well.”
In Memorial’s 6-2 last year, Marburger was only setting on half of the team’s rotations, splitting the role with Allie Nitsch. While that alignment allowed the Lady Mustangs to make use of Marburger’s hitting prowess, it sometimes created issues for Memorial’s other hitters. Hitting sets from the 5-foot-8 Nitsch was a big difference compared to the 5-foot-3 Marburger, Lopez said.
“I decided with our quick system, it’s just more consistent to run off one setter,” Lopez said. “One tempo, one size.”
Lopez will give Marburger insight on little things like which defensive players to avoid in certain scenarios, but for the most part she trusts Marburger to make the correct read.
During her first match in the new setup, Tuesday against Mission Veterans, Marburger had 23 assists, 2 kills, 5 aces and 4 digs as Memorial lost 25-23, 26-24, 25-18.
“The 5-1 is all about the setter leading,” Marburger said. “It’s put the role on me to lead the team, and lead the offense, and make it all work.”
Marburger’s experience and leadership ability are especially valuable given that the Lady Mustangs start two freshmen — Lanie Nitsch and Jocelyn Everage.
Those freshmen combine with Allie Nitsch and returning big hitter Draik Banks to provide the bulk of Memorial’s attack.“They’re very energetic, and that’s what we need on the team,” Marburger said. “They fit perfectly.”
BRANCHING OUT
Coming off a sophomore season during which she was named the District 31-6A outstanding setter, Edinburg High’s Dezi Marmolejo is looking to contribute in even more areas in 2015.
“We’re wringing her out like a rag full of water,” coach Deanna Dominguez said. “We’re just trying to get the most we can out of her.”
Now in her third year on varsity, Marmolejo counts natural athleticism and court awareness among her strengths, Dominguez said.
In wins against Mercedes and Harlingen South on Tuesday, Marmolejo tallied 20 kills, 14 assists, 22 digs, 15 aces and two blocks.
“She is super competitive and wants to win,” Dominguez said. “She’s not only like that during games, she’s like that in practice. That drive that she has, it echoes to everybody in the team. Everybody just ups their intensity level.”
Dominguez said Marmolejo has gotten much better at listening to instruction during her varsity tenure.
Whether its small things like where the open spots are in the defense or bigger matters like her changing role, Marmolejo has been very receptive.
“She’s, ‘Yes, ma’am. Whatever you need me to do, coach,’” Dominguez said. “She has a really good attitude. I couldn’t ask for a better kid.”
Edinburg graduated just one senior from a team that went 11-1 in District 31-6A last season, but Dominguez said the nine-player roster is still going through an early adjustment period given the role changes and positions switches of Marmolejo and a few others.
Dominguez said that defense figures to be the team’s “bread and butter” this year.
Edinburg High returns to action on Friday in the Donna Tournament.
“It’s about getting into the groove and finding our rhythm,” Dominguez said. “Right now, it’s just working out little kinks.”
FIGURING IT OUT
With eight new players coming up from junior varsity, Edinburg North coach Adrian Cavazos is spending the first week of the season figuring out rotations and helping his fresh faces adjust.
Among the players who are making the transition are hitters Laura Ruiz and Loryssa Rendon.
“Early on, it’s just adjusting to the speed,” Cavaos said. “The JV kids, it’s a lot different. The speed and the demand of playing on varsity. There wasn’t much pressure on JV. There’s a lot more on varsity.”
Among the varsity returners for the Lady Cougars are outside hitter Victoria Rogers and setters Abri Saenz and Ayissa Maldonado. Julie Villarreal is also returning but at a different position, moving from hitter in 2014 to libero in 2015.
Edinburg North, which finished 11-1 in District 31-6A last season, got the new season off to a strong start despite all of the adjustments, beating Mission High 25-14, 26-28, 25-22, 28-26 on Tuesday.
Next up is the Poundfest Tournament starting today in McAllen, where Cavazos will continue to look to tweak his rotation and iron out flaws.
“It’s just getting as many games as possible right now so we can try to get these kids up to tempo with the speed of the game,” Cavazos said. “The more games we can play, the better.”