D’Hanis High School seniors Mabry Herrmann and Jolie Frosch are accustomed to winning.

Both played key roles on the school’s 2022 UIL Class 1A state championship softball team. Herrmann has made it to regionals in cross country and track and came within one win of helping the basketball team reach the Region IV-1A tournament in 2021.

During a time in which D’Hanis girls athletics is enjoying unprecedented success, it has been the rare moments in which Frosch and Herrmann have fallen short of reaching a goal that fueled them.

The motivation has paid dividends as the Cowgirls advanced to the UIL Class 1A state volleyball tournament, their fourth appearance in the past six seasons. They also went in 2017, 2018 and 2020.
D’Hanis (29-13) faces Benjamin (32-7) at 11 a.m. Wednesday in a Class 1A state semifinal match at the Culwell Center in Garland.

“For me, I don’t want us to have any regrets or make any mistakes that will cost us,” said Herrmann, an outside hitter. “Being a leader, I really focus on being an encourager because we play best whenever we have fun and have each other’s backs.”

The Cowgirls have had plenty of excitement this season. They breezed to an unblemished District 30-1A title, winning all but one of their eight league contests in a sweep. But it’s been during the postseason that D’Hanis has virtually untouchable, winning all four of its matches without dropping a set. Even more impressive than the manner in which the team has won has been who the wins have come against.

In succession, the Cowgirls have taken down San Isidro in the third round, Round Top-Carmine in the regional semifinals and Neches in the regional final. San Isidro ended D’Hanis’ season in the third round in 2021, Neches did the same in the state semifinals during the COVID-shortened campaign in 2020 and Round Top-Carmine stopped them in the regional semifinals in 2019.

“Being able to come back and play really hard as a team and show them who we are now, how we’ve grown, how we’ve improved, felt really nice,” said Herrmann, the team’s top attacker who earlier this season earned her 1,000th career kill, on avenging past playoff losses. “It feels like we’ve come full circle. It’s extremely rewarding for this to be the cherry on the top because as seniors, and going to the state tournament and beating these teams that we lost to before, it’s just like a surreal feeling.”

It was another feeling — one of disbelief — that powered D’Hanis this season under second-year coach Kristina Finger. A year ago in Tilden, with a fifth straight appearance at the regional tournament firmly in their grasp, the Cowgirls saw it slip away.
San Isidro rallied after losing the opening two sets for a stunning 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-12 win. D’Hanis overcame a 24-21 deficit in the fourth set to tie it at 24, only for San Isidro to win the final two points to force a decisive fifth set. In the final frame, D’Hanis fell behind 14-9, fought off three match points, before San Isidro prevailed.

“We’re definitely a competitive team, and we don’t want to quit until the game is over, but we really let that one slip away from us,” Herrmann said. “A loss is a lot harder to accept whenever you feel like you could’ve walked away with a win. We definitely have remembered the feelings from that game and what we could’ve changed from then, and have tried to make sure we don’t repeat mistakes like that going into this playoff run. That was not the way we wanted to end our season.”

Herrmann and Frosch now have the opportunity to write a championship ending to both this season and their careers this weekend.

“We had a lot of athletic ability (in past years), but we really weren’t as polished as we are now,” said Frosch, a setter who earlier this season amassed 3,000 assists. “The team we have now, we all work together. I feel like now, especially having the feeling of revenge, I am calm and ready to win.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1