CORPUS CHRISTI — Audrey Zamora nearly ran out of the large gym making a save during one rally, and Aleah Saenz was knocked backward from the impact of a ferocious kill attempt during another rally. Despite the numerous great saves, the attacks just kept coming.
The saves were enormous, plentiful and necessary Tuesday night but not enough as Austin Dripping Springs continued its relentless pounding en route to a 25-18, 27-25, 25-17 victory over McAllen High in the UIL Class 5A regional semifinals at Corpus Christi Ray High School.
The win sends the Tigers to the regional final matchup against the winner of Canyon and Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, which also played Tuesday night. It also extended Dripping Springs’ streak of sets won to 27 straight.
That streak was nearly snapped, however, in the second set as the Bulldogs overcame a 10-6 deficit with a 12-2 run that began with a Celina Saenz kill and included a pair of kills from Olivia Tite and a quick thinking push From Haidee Moore away from Tigers defenders, who were bunched up at the net, and the Bulldogs led 18-12.
Led by attacks from Karley Sledge and a block from Ryann Allison, the Tigers worked their way back and tied it at 22 on a ferocious jump serve ace from Mackenzie Plante. The teams tied again at 23, 24 and 25, before Dripping Springs pulled away and kept its set streak alive.
“I’m incredibly proud of our girls today,” McHi head coach Paula Dodge said. “That was a very tall and string team and the just kept hitting at us and we kept picking it up and keeping it off the floor. They did a tremendous job.”
Plante, the Tigers’ 5-foot-11 sophomore super outside hitter, was a huge difference in the game. During the first set, Plante set the tone with six kills, including two from the back row, and a pair of blocks.
Celina Saenz led the Bulldogs’ attack with 12 kills, while Olivia Tite added nine kills, working incredibly hard to amass those numbers with Tigers blockers getting their hands on many attacks to slow the ball down and keep it in play.
Defensively, Aleah Saenz and Zamora each tallied 17 digs, several of those coming after Dripping Springs players believed the point was almost over, only to see the ball stay up and back into play.
Setter Madison Helmcamp — one of four seniors on that team, along with Tite, Zamora and middle hitter/blocker Haidee Moore — had another impressive all around game with two kills, 22 assists, nine digs and one of three McHi aces.
During a shortened season when the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc throughout the country, Dodge said her team showed desire to finish the 2020 campaign, preserving through a two-week quarantine and playing five matches in the final six days of the regular season.
“These girls love to play volleyball and they showed it all year, whether it was a match every day or more practice, whatever it took,” said Dodge, who led the Bulldogs to their second straight Sweet 16, last year advancing in Class 6A. It was also the team’s sixth appearance since 2004.
“They played with their heart and left it all out there today. I can’t say much more about their performance,” she added. “They played great.”