West overpowers East, Cortinas shines brightest at all-star games

Everyone knew that the power hitters would be on display – PSJA’s Mia Dominguez, McAllen Memorial’s Amare Hernandez, Brownsville Pace’s Andie Lozano-Lomeli, Los Fresnos’ Shiloh Jones and Roma’s Elaiza Martinez leading the all stars.

But the name that those in attendance during the 21^st East-West All-Star in crowded McAllen High gym will probably remember the most is Brownsville St. Joseph’s Deliany Cortinas, who had all sides and corners of the gym celebrating her eye-opening performance and power.

Despite the West capturing all three matches – Sub-5A, Class 5A and Class 6A – Cortinas put on an electric show for the East. By midway through the third set of the five-set match, the collective anticipation of a ball being set to her would transform into an explosion – both from her massive kill to wild cheers from the crowd.

“It was a good game and I’m proud of my team and what we did,” Cortinas said. “I would love to play volleyball, what I love the most, in college now.

“I could feel the intensity today, more than any other match. I was happy and anxious but I played my game. It was great today.”

Kiana Villarreal led the West in the thrilling match won by the West 15-14 in the fifth (there was no win-by-two rule). Villarreal, of Zapata, and Cortinas matched up a few times on the front row and took turns rallying their team on multiple occasions including a stretch in the third set when Villarreal had a pair of kills and a block, and Cortinas added a pair of kills, bringing fans, and teammates, loudly to their feet.

“It got really intense. I couldn’t hear my teammates because of how loud the fans were – I didn’t really expect this,” Villarreal said. “I thought it would get a little crazy.

“(Cortinas) is a tough hitter. She’s really good, but I kept telling the girls we need to push through. I’m glad we came out with the win.”

Hernandez led the West in a four-set victory in the Class 5A match. The Texas A&M commit battled with a familiar foe, Lozano-Lomeli and the two at times looked like boxers in the middle of the ring throwing what they hoped would be knockout punches.

It was ironic that near the end of the match – the third to final play – Memorial’s Hernandez took the serve, passed it to high school teammate Gaby Torres, who then set it to another Memorial teammate, Leah Garcia. It was a replay that happened hundreds of times during their four years, along with Madisyn Sosa, while at Memorial.

“I’m just so, so grateful for all of the opportunities and times we’ve had together getting to play together year, doing it one last time is bittersweet but it’s so awesome,” said Hernandez, who will sign her National Letter of Intent to play and attend A&M in College Station. “I love these girls.”

In the end for both the 5A and 6A teams, a huge advantage came down to which setter was most comfortable with which hitters. That was won by Gaby Torres, who has four years of experience with Hernandez at Memorial and connected right away with Martinez in the middle. She also had Garcia and Sosa on the team.

Meanwhile the 6A West squad carried four PSJA High players – Dominguez, Karina Lucio, libero Alexa Carranza and setter Victoria Gonzalez and they clearly took advantage of their longtime connection to claim a sweep.

[email protected]