Sharyland, Pioneer, Memorial stay unbeaten at tourney

MISSION — Kenisha Martinez is known for pounding shots from above the net. The Monitor’s 2021 All-Area Newcomer of the Year is among the top boppers across the Rio Grande Valley.

On Thursday, however, the sophomore was also firing off screaming missiles from behind the service line and played a key role as Sharyland High went 3-0 for the second straight day of pool play at the Sharyland Invitational, stopping an aggressive and upset-minded Edinburg North team in three sets.

Sharyland joins McAllen Memorial and Sharyland Pioneer — all from District 31-5A — as undefeated teams heading into today’s championship tournament bracket at Sharyland Pioneer. The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Edinburg Vela, also from 31-5A, advanced to the gold bracket as well.

McAllen Memorial, the top seed, is scheduled to play Brownsville Veterans, Harlingen High will play Edinburg North, Sharyland Pioneer will face Donna High and Sharyland will battle Edinburg Vela, all at 10 a.m. today to kick off the first round. The semifinals are skated for noon.

The service game is an area Martinez has worked on specifically during the summer and since last year and it showed, and she powered her team on a 7-0 run at the end of the first set, most of her serves never reversing course after she drilled them.

Sharyland head coach Raul Castillo said winning the district could come down to who is the most effective from that service line.

“To win this district, you have to be a great server,” he said. “That doesn’t mean at 100% but be a tough server. Everybody passes well and everyone has hitters. Your only hope is to throw them out of system, and hopefully you get an opportunity to defend and then earn that point.”

Martinez said her coach talked to her about how much her serves aided her all-around play last season, and she took it to heart.

“Serving is our main thing. It’s the one thing you can control in volleyball,” Martinez said. “If we don’t get sets, we can still score off our serving. I worked a lot on my serves and focus on them over the summer.”

While the Rattlers and Cougars were playing on Court 2, Memorial and Vela were going at it on the adjacent court. All three district foes took time to peek over and see how the others were faring.

“I didn’t even notice they were playing on the next court,” Castillo said. “But I’m sure the girls were aware of it, our girls and theirs as well.”

Sharyland missed the playoffs last year, finishing fifth. Only the top four teams can advance and now that Vela has been placed in the district, there are six perennial postseason squads vying for the four postseason spots.