MISSION — When Sharyland High’s America Hernandez serves, everything isn’t just about blasting aces.
But she’s certainly tallied a lot of them. In fact, the Rattlers’ senior outside hitter set the school record Saturday for aces in a career when she hit, then surpassed, the 200 mark against crosstown rival Sharyland Pioneer in a three-set sweep.
The win was the 27th straight for Hernandez and the Rattlers, and it completed the first round of district play with Sharyland in first place and a 9-0 district record.
Last year, Hernandez at one point was listed as the national high school leader in aces according to MaxPreps.com. She finished the season with nearly 140 aces.
Head coach Raul Castillo preaches to his teams that “they are not one-dimensional players.”
“They should want to be multi-dimensional players when they’re one the court,” Castillo said. “That’s one of (America’s) strength.”
Always a strong hitter and defender — she could also reach her 1,000th dig this season — Hernandez realized that powerful arm that she uses for kill after kill could have the same results behind the service line.
“The summer before her junior year, she wanted to work on her jump serve, so we worked on some things like the toss and where she should be taking off from,” Castillo said. “She loved the topspin, and since then she just brought it.”
Hernandez’s biggest goal was learning how to contain that much potent potential in such a small area.
“I know it’s all about placement, about controlling it and catching people out of their place,” she said. “If they’re very deep, I’m trying the topspin to drop it in front of them. If they’re up, I’ll serve a deep floater and try to get them out of their serve-receive rotation.”
That comment also shows the increased maturity Hernandez has when stepping up to serve. While the great servers look amazing when their meteor goes crashing untouched through their opponents, it is oftentimes just as effective when it’s not an ace.
“That’s the thing with serving. It’s a mental part of the game because of the distance you are away and you want them to serve aggressively and with high speed and velocity, trying to get those defenders to mess up,” Castillo said.
“A lot of times she wants to score every point but she also knows when there are great passers so she sees how much she can throw their off they game, get them out of system. That’s good enough for us and we’ll capitalize it on the next play.”
Hernandez said that it’s also about building momentum, registering aces are great, but rallying with multiple points because of tough serves is just as critical to match flow.
With almost the exact same team, last season remains burned in the Rattlers’ memory. Playing in district where the top six or seven teams could compete for the playoffs in some other districts, Sharyland remembers finishing 7-7 a season ago and missing out on the postseason. The Rattlers were one of five teams in the district to be ranked in the state at one point or another during last season according to the Texas Girls Coaches’ Association. But the ranking didn’t give them any type of free pass into the postseason.
“Last year, we were the same team,” Hernandez said. “We worked hard last year and this year but what came together was the chemistry. It’s so insane. We know mistakes will be made but there is always someone who is there backing each of us up.”
Castillo said last year was an eye-opener for his squad. It made them hungrier for different results. Now they have one more time through the district with eyes on the postseason and the District 31-5A title. They hold a one-game lead over McAllen Memorial (8-1) and a two-game lead over McAllen High, McAllen Rowe and Sharyland Pioneer, all at 6-3. Only the top four teams advance to the playoffs.
“We had all that talent and didn’t make the playoffs,” Castillo said. “We have to hit it hard. Nobody in this district is going to give you anything. It’s been fun to an extent. Being the underdog, you have nothing to lose. Now, the expectations are high and we have to maintain.
“They know how things went last year. This year, they’re a little more focused.”
And, it’s probably fair to say, they have a few aces up their sleeve to help as well.