Edinburg North falls to Laredo Alexander in Region IV-5A quarters

ROMA — One day, Edinburg North’s Aleena Cubriel is probably going to appreciate her team’s record-setting run through the playoffs this season.

That day just wasn’t Tuesday after Laredo Alexander — behind a remarkable serving and blocking display by Sam Gonzalez — eliminated the Lady Cougars from the playoffs with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 victory in a Class 5A regional quarterfinal.

The Lady Bulldogs (35-3) will advance to this weekend’s Region IV-5A tournament in San Antonio. Alexander defeated McAllen Rowe and San Benito to get to this round.

“We really wanted to go to San Antonio,” said Cubriel, a senior outside hitter who led the Lady Cougars with seven kills. “But, we needed to take care of this first. I honestly don’t think we played the way we could have. I think that’s the thing I’m going to regret the most.”

Edinburg North, which finished at 32-7, had never won a district or area championship until this season. The Lady Cougars had never won as many matches, either.

“I’m proud of the girls for the season they had,” Edinburg North coach Adrian Cavazos said. “Of course, we couldn’t take that next step. Nobody thought we’d be here. It was a great season. Thirty-two wins isn’t too shabby.”

Gonzalez made sure the Lady Cougars didn’t get a 33rd win. Gonzalez led the Lady Bulldogs with seven kills, eight aces and five blocks. Alexander scored 18 points off her serve. Her serving sequence in the middle of the second game put the Lady Bulldogs in control for good.

The Lady Bulldogs trailed in the second game, 4-2, before they went on an 8-0 run engineered by Gonzalez’s serve. She recorded three of her aces during that span.

“We just didn’t have an answer for her,” Cavazos said. “I called a timeout or two. We hadn’t seen serving that tough all year long.”

Alexander coach Judy Mayers added: “(Gonzalez) is a great server with a great floater. She was able to place it wherever she needed it. I noticed they were playing her short so I told her to go deep.”

That sequence had a domino effect and the Lady Cougars had trouble with serve-receive the rest of the way. The Lady Bulldogs took advantage by taking Edinburg North out of its system and turning up the offensive pressure.

“They took us out of our rhythm and out of our tempo,” Cavazos said. “We didn’t defend as well as we had been. They took it to us, bottom line. They just came out and whipped us.”

One other factor was the middle combo of Gonzalez and Lizzie Prieto, who had 10 kills and four blocks. Mayers opted to play strong at the net and hoped the Lady Cougars wouldn’t be able to effectively get the ball to the back where the Lady Bulldogs were short a defender.

“We were double-blocking the middle,” Mayers said. “I don’t know if they picked up on that, but it was working.”

Alexa Salazar had 17 digs, Sammy Arredondo 10 digs, Diana Scott 10 kills and Steffi Ramos 19 assists for Alexander.

Jessica Martinez had five kills and Megan Helle four kills for Edinburg North.

David Hinojosa covers high school volleyball for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or via email at dhinojosa@themonitor.com