BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Coming back after earning All-Valley Player of the Year honors in 2014, McAllen Rowe’s Mayda Garcia is looking to add more aspects to her game.
Now with an eye toward earning a chance to play at the college level, Garcia is making setting part of her repertoire. Although rarely, if ever, serving as the Lady Warriors’ primary setter on a given play, Garcia has been quicker to field a pass and make the second touch than in previous years.
“I do want to play college ball, and a lot of coaches I have talked to say to learn multiple positions,” Garcia said. “So that’s what I’m focusing on, not just one set outside position.”
Garcia said college coaches value players who have the ability to set, and Rowe coach Magda Canales teaches her players to play multiple positions. Because the player making the set is the shot-caller on the attack, Garcia said the role will improve her ability to read the game and know where all 11 other players are on the court.
A naturally shy player, Garcia was slow to push for the new responsibility. Canales encouraged her to take that next step.
“She wanted to do it, so I started to tell her, ‘OK, jump in there,’” Canales said. “She got a little more assertive as far as that.”
The transition hasn’t always gone smoothly. During Rowe’s first match of the Sharyland Tournament on Thursday, Garcia said she and one of the outside hitters forgot to make a switch while the ball was in the air, letting it fall to the floor.
Still, senior middle blocker Ryela Rodriguez said the move has been more positive than negative.
“It honestly does work,” Rodriguez said. “Coach lets her set, and she takes advantage every single time she has. You can tell she wants to do that, because she wants to lead on the court.”
She’s also started to become more involved with her younger teammates. Rowe has four seniors on the roster but has also been integrating younger players into the rotation. Garcia said she’s been talking more on the court, and Canales has occasionally let Garcia run the team huddle to encourage more communication.
She said she’s been teaching the younger players about how to stay calm and block out the crowd.
“That’s what I’m trying to focus on right now. That’s my No. 1 thing,” Garcia said. “It’s something I have to work at, because I’m the shy player. I don’t like to give orders to other people. I feel like that’s not my part to do. But I do see that it helps the other girls when we reach out to each other.”
In addition to Garcia, the Lady Warriors bring back first team all-district selections Rodriguez and Sophia Luna, plus second-team all district picks Deanna Spear and Vanessa Lopez.
Rowe expected coming into the season that its biggest issues would be defensively, but libero Kayla Cruz has stepped up to fill the void.
The Lady Warriors won both of their matches in the Sharyland Tournament on Thursday. The team also finished second at the Poundfest Tournament and came through with a 6-3 mark at the North East Invitational Tournament in San Antonio.
The strong early results have given Rowe optimism the team can advance farther than last season’s third-round playoff appearance.
“Our goals and expectations are to go four rounds,” Rodriguez said. “It’s up there. That’s one of our biggest goals. We know it’s attainable. We definitely want to go there.”