McHi alone in first, eyes Vela next
High School RGV Sports Volleyball
September 16, 2024byHenry Miller
Yaneli Rocha had another outstanding all-around performance and Gabby Estringel dropped one bomb after another as McAllen High decimated Sharyland Pioneer 25-17, 25-22, 25-19 Saturday during a battle of the final two District 31-5A unbeaten squads.

McAllen High’s Yaneli Rocha (4) sets the ball against Sharyland Pioneer in a 31-5A matchup at Sharyland Pioneer High School on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in
Mission. (Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com)
McHi improved to 4-0, alone atop District 31-5A, and hasn’t dropped a set (12-0) during district play. The Bulldogs opened district Sept. 3 with a 3-0 sweep over two-time defending district champion Sharyland. Pioneer is now 4-1 overall and those three sets against McHi are the only ones the Diamondbacks have dropped during district play. Sharyland and Pioneer face one another at Sharyland on Tuesday. Meanwhile McHi hosts Edinburg Vela, another 31-5A playoff hopeful.

Rocha, the Bulldogs floor general is a human ball of energy. She dished out a whopping 52 assists to go with three kills, two blocks and a pair of digs. She is closing in on 700 assists for the season, currently at 622. She ran a fast offense, sending the ball to all of her hitters and keeping Pioneer off balance.

All three of Rocha’s kills came on second-ball attacks from the lefty setter. Having an offensive threat at the setter position will hold blockers for just a nano-second, but it’s enough to cause disruption – and possible gaps for hitters to blast through.

“I try to throw off their offense and defense and it worked a lot of the times today,” Rocha said.

Twenty of Rocha’s assists were kills from the arm of Estringel, the Bulldogs’ powerful lefty right side hitter. While most of her attacks came from her hammering swings, Estringel also showed some variety and touch, tipping to open spots on occasions, pulling out some roll shots and pushing a ball to the deep corner for a kill after seeing the area was wide open. The junior added two blocks, one ace and one assist as well.

“We made a big change in our offense due to everybody else’s hitters and we switched some things up and it has been working in our favor,” Rocha said. “I’m just proud of all these girls.

McAllen High’s Gabriela Estringel (16) returns the ball at the net against Sharyland Pioneer in a 31-5A matchup at Sharyland Pioneer High School on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Mission. (Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com)
Other than trailing 9-5 in the first set, the match was almost entirely McHi. They controlled the middle, usually one of Pioneer’s biggest strengths, and didn’t allow their hitters to get into any rhythm, partially because of the deluge of attacks McHi threw at them.

“How good their middles are was a big concern, they are so consistent and their team is so good defensively,” McHi head coach Estefania Portillo said. “It’s about tying to find anything in their defense, which was very difficult.”

McHi showed the biggest variety of offensive schemes this season. Rocha took more second-ball attacks and the Bulldogs used a double-quick middle attack often and efficiently, moving the ball too quickly often times for Pioneer to set up a block.

Izabella Palacios and Karely Cantu both reached double figured in kills with 11 and 10 respectively and Isabella Rivera added eight kills, a pair of blocks and one ace. Libero Kaylen Ottmers tallied four aces, three coming in a row at one point.

McHi alone in first, eyes Vela next