Lady Falcons sweep Lady Bulldogs out of playoffs

Los Fresnos continued its playoff rampage Friday night with its second straight postseason sweep to advance to the regional quarterfinals.

The No. 1 Lady Falcons (35-2) eliminated the No. 7 McAllen High Lady Bulldogs 25-16, 25-21, 25-15 in a Class 5A area-round playoff match at Los Fresnos. The Lady Falcons now face Harlingen South, which upset No. 2 Sharyland on Friday, in a regional quarterfinal next week.

"The girls came out on fire and stayed on fire all three games," Los Fresnos coach Becky Woods said. "The poise they showed out there was unbelievable, and I’m proud of them."

McAllen High ends its season with a 26-15 record.

Los Fresnos came out with high energy from the beginning, bouncing back from a 3-0 deficit to force more than a dozen McAllen High errors in the first set. Outside hitter Gloriana Villarreal led the Lady Falcons’ attack, teaming with setter Hayley Weaver to push out a five-point lead. The Lady Bulldogs served up three aces behind Monique Swift, but still trailed by as many as nine points.

McAllen High took its first lead of the match halfway through the second set when Swift blocked a big Los Fresnos hit to jump ahead 12-11. The remainder of the set was back-and-forth between the teams, but Los Fresnos’ tandem of Debera Lozano and Ashley Ortega helped their team break away with 11 kills and find a four-point cushion at 23-19. Stephanie Shears helped the Lady Falcons end the frenzy at 25-21 with two assists from Weaver.

Swift and Clarissa Gonzalez kept the attack game alive for McAllen High in the final set with eight kills, but the Lady Falcons held onto the lead with a 6-3 run and six-point streak to send the Lady Bulldogs home.

"It was an exciting match. They put it all on the line, and they did the best they could," McAllen High coach Paula Dodge said. "I’m very proud of my team and I wish the Lady Falcons all the luck."

Los Fresnos and unranked Harlingen South will play a third-round match early next week with a trip to the regional semifinals in San Antonio on the line. The time and place of the match weren’t available as of press time.

"San Antonio has been their goal all year long," Woods said. "But we have to go one game at a time and play with intensity, drive and desire to fight."

Woods said her squad hasn’t played Harlingen South this year, but she expects the Lady Hawks to be challenging.

"Coming back and beating Sharyland is awesome in itself. They must’ve played out of their mind," she said. "If they can play like that against Sharyland, then they’re going to play that way against us. We can’t take any team for granted — especially South, with the tradition they have in volleyball."