By beating Edinburg North on Tuesday, Edinburg High remained in contention for the District 31-6A title.
All season, the two schools have jockeyed for position atop the district standings. North initially grabbed the lead by sweeping Edinburg High in the first head-to-head matchup. But with the Lady Bobcats winning in five sets this week, both are in position now to end the season with identical records, assuming they hang on to beat the teams they’ve already beaten during the first round of district.
Having coached for 14 seasons, Edinburg High coach Deanna Dominguez didn’t want to assume anything was set in stone.
“We still have four big games on the agenda (to close out the regular season),” she said. “So it’s not over by any means. We still have to stay focused as a team.”
North (28-11, 8-1) remains in first place, having played one more match than Edinburg High (26-7, 7-1), which already had its open date. North faces Weslaco High (11-19, 2-6) before being open Tuesday, meaning Edinburg High has a chance of tying the Lady Cougars with a win over PSJA Memorial (15-18, 6-3) on Saturday and Edinburg Economedes (1-23, 0-8) next week.
Should both teams finish with the same district record, they would have to share the crown and then decide whether to play an additional match or flip a coin to determine playoff seeding.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Dominguez said. “It’s critical for us to stay on track and work even harder (than we have). Usually, teams tend to improve as the season goes on, and we want to be that team that continues to improve and progress skill-wise.”
Edinburg High certainly showed growth this week, beating the Lady Cougars 23-25, 30-28, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12 after beating swept the first time around.
“It was very even,” Dominguez said. “I don’t want to say we got lucky, but the ball really could’ve bounced either way. Both teams wanted it really badly. I’m just happy the ball bounced our way.”
She added: “We were very clear about how important this game was. We talked about second-round goals. That was on everyone’s checklist; we needed to beat Edinburg North.”
Failing to do that would have positioned North as runaway favorites to win the title with three matches remaining. Now, both teams could very well split the honor.
“We just need to regroup,” North coach Adrian Cavazos said. “We told them, ‘It’s not the end of the world.’ Bottom line is, we have to focus on trying to qualify for the playoffs and trying to make it far.
“It upset some of the girls (to lose Tuesday), especially the seniors. But, really, the main thing is qualifying (for the postseason) now.”
CLOSE RACE
McAllen High (32-5, 8-1) scored a considerable advantage Tuesday by beating McAllen Rowe (32-5, 7-2), after having defeated McAllen Memorial (31-8, 7-2) during the weekend.
McHi could win the title outright if it secures its remaining matches. Among the teams the Lady Bulldogs will have to go through: McAllen Memorial on Oct. 21.
In the first meeting, McHi went on the road to sweep Memorial 25-23, 25-22, 25-23.
CHANGE OF PLANS
Due to SAT and ACT testing, Sharyland Pioneer has rescheduled two home matches.
On Saturday, the Lady Diamondbacks will host Mission Veterans. And on Oct. 25, Roma will travel to take on Pioneer. Both matches are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
Also moving up its start time is PSJA Southwest at Donna North for 2 p.m. Saturday. Donna North will host Donna High now at 3 p.m. on Oct. 25.
DISTRICT 30-6A
Over Dist
Team W L W L
McAllen High 32 5 8 1
McAllen Rowe 32 5 7 2
McAllen Memorial 31 8 7 2
Mission High 15 17 4 4
La Joya High 12 22 3 6
L.J. Juarez-Lincoln — — 1 7
La Joya Palmview — — 0 8
DISTRICT 31-6A
Over Dist
Team W L W L
Edinburg North 28 11 8 1
Edinburg High 26 7 7 1
PSJA Memorial 15 18 5 4
PSJA North 14 13 3 6
Weslaco East 15 18 4 5
Weslaco High 11 19 2 6
Ed. Economedes 1 23 0 8
DISTRICT 32-6A
Over Dist
Team W L W L
Los Fresnos 30 9 10 0
Bro. Veterans 28 10 9 1
Brownsville Hanna 26 15 6 4
Harlingen High — — 6 4
San Benito 11 14 3 7
Harlingen South 20 19 3 7
Brownsville Rivera 12 23 2 8
Brownsville Lopez — — 1 9
DISTRICT 31-5A
Over Dist
Team W L W L
Mission Veterans 27 6 8 0
Sharyland Pioneer 27 9 8 1
Roma 26 9 5 4
Edinburg Vela 20 15 4 5
Sharyland High 18 22 3 5
Rio Grande City — — — —
Valley View — — — —
DISTRICT 32-5A
Over Dist
Team W L W L
Donna High 31 8 10 0
Edcouch-Elsa 19 16 9 1
PSJA High — — 6 3
Brownsville Porter 9 13 4 6
Mercedes 18 16 4 6
PSJA Southwest 15 15 4 6
Brownsville Pace 7 16 2 7
Donna North 5 25 0 10
DISTRICT 32-4A
Over Dist
Team W L W L
La Feria 24 11 9 1
Zapata — — 9 1
Port Isabel 22 10 8 2
Grulla 14 17 4 6
Rio Hondo — — 3 7
Progreso 6 21 4 6
Raymondville — — 2 8
RGVSports.com Top 10
Team Record Prv.
1, Los Fresnos 30-9 1
2, Mission Vets 27-6 2
3, Donna High 31-8 3
4, McAllen High 32-5 5
5, McAllen Rowe 32-5 4
6, Mc. Memorial 31-8 6
7, Bro. Veterans 28-10 8
8, Shary. Pioneer 27-9 9
9, Edcouch-Elsa 19-16 10
10, Ed. North 28-11 7