BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONTIOR
McALLEN – Julia Monday was great on Tuesdays and Fridays, when the 6-foot tall outside hitter was smashing volleyballs for points at McAllen High.
Now, Monday is doing her work on Thursdays and Saturdays at Division I Incarnate Word University in San Antonio. And the freshman saved her best for the last Saturday of the season last weekend.
After a slow start to the year, Monday racked up 16 kills in a four-set season finale upset victory over conference foe Sam Houston State. The kill total was her highest for the year and a long way from where Monday started her first collegiate season back in August.
During her first five matches, she had just nine kills. Then, in her seventh match, against Southeastern Louisiana, Monday broke out with 13 kills and four blocks. Just like that, she was on her way. Monday attributed her improvement to working with the team’s senior setter, Madison Williams.
“The more they started to let me play, the more I could get a feel of what worked for me and what didn’t work for me against the bigger teams,” said Monday, who added that things were different by the time the Cardinals (8-15 overall, 7-9 Southland Conference) faced Sam Houston.
“That night was amazing. It was our last chance to prove to everyone what kind of team we really are,” Monday, a nursing major, said. “We finished strong and gave it our all. We were all crying tears of joy at the end, because we knew we all played with heart, and you could really feel it on the court.”
That was the highlight of the Cardinals’ season. IWU struggled some during 2017, at one point losing seven straight matches — including one to UTRGV. Several factors played a role, including having a very inexperienced team (seven freshman, four sophomores) and missing seven non-conference games because of hurricanes. Still, Monday said she and the team made strides, winning four of their last five to close the year.
Moving from high school to DI is difficult, but Monday was among the Cardinals’ offensive leaders. She ranked fourth in overall points (164.5) and kills (143) and would have had more had she logged more minutes early in the season. In kills per set, Monday ranked second on the squad with 2.20. She was fourth in blocks for IWU with 39.
“I feel like I’ve improved, on my defense and serve receive,” said Monday, who is also stronger now than a year ago. “We spend a lot of time in the gym and work on the technical aspects of it all. I also feel like I’ve improved on working how to hit against a big block.”
She is having fun at IWU, she said. She enjoys the campus, the academics and being not too far from home. But she longs for her high school teammates and facing McHi’s crosstown rivals from back in the day.
“I definitely miss playing Memorial and Rowe. We all knew each other across the net, so it was just so much fun playing competitively and smirking at each other after every point,” she said. “And I miss (McHi) Coach (Paula) Dodge. I definitely miss her. She’s one of the sweetest ladies you’ll ever meet. She left a huge mark on my life.”
LA JOYA’S CASTILLO CANDIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE ALL-STAR
Sergio Castillo is a Canadian Football League All-Star. Even though the outstanding kicker/punter is out for the year with a leg injury (suffered when he tried to make a tackle), the La Joya High product was named a CFL East Division All-Star for converting 29 of 34 field goal attempts and averaging 45 yards per punt for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was an impressive 5 for 5 from beyond 50 yards.
Castillo, 27, attended West Texas A&M University in the Texas Panhandle after graduating from La Joya in 2009 with all-district honors. He was a four-time Lone Star All-Conference selection while at West Texas. Hamilton is Castillo’s third CFL team in three years, and it’s been his busiest and best stop. Before getting hurt in October, he played in 14 games and scored 107 points. Hamilton, Ontario is just outside Toronto.
SHARYLAND GOLFER ERANA MAKING MARK AT ST. EDWARDS
Former Sharyland High Rattlers golfer Ana Jose Erana is shining for St. Edwards University. This year, the sophomore has had several quality outings, including an 11th-place finish at the TexAnn Fall Classic, hosted by Tarleton State in Glenn Rose, shooting a 2-over par 146. The sophomore and her Hilltoppers team played in four fall tournaments.
Erana and St. Edwards, the DII school in Austin, had a solid showing at the NCAA 2018 preview, finishing eighth among 14 teams. The kinesiology major helped her team by placing 47th out of 78 golfers at the Houston tournament with a 10-over par. Erana lettered all four years at Sharyland and was an all-district and all-state selection. At St. Edwards, she’s been lauded for her work in the classroom. She was selected in 2016 to the dean’s list and was twice named to the Heartland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
MCHI’S RODRIGUEZ HELPS UH-VICTORIA WIN LEAGUE CROWN
Adrian Rodriguez didn’t score much this year, but the McHi product netted one of his two goals this season last week in the Red River Conference Championship, helping hand the University of Houston-Victoria a 2-0 win over LSU-Alexandria. Rodriguez, a freshman forward, netted his goal in the 52nd minute. He also had an assist in the semifinals for the Jaguars (11-2-2 overall).
The victory sends the Jaguars to the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round on Saturday.
Rodriguez, who is McHi’s all-time leading scorer, was an all-district and all-Valley selection as a Bulldog. The 5-foot-7, 140-pounder started nine of UH-Victoria’s 13 games (five games were canceled because of hurricanes) and had two goals and four assists for eight points this season.
Know an RGV athlete doing well at the collegiate level in any sport? Send us a tip at gluca@ themonitor. com.