The beckoning came in a different form or fashion for each of them. A few knew long ago that they would answer the call. Others were either hesitant or deliberate with their responses.

Davenport High School volleyball coach Taylour Toso wrestled over which potential career to pursue, either one requiring her to wear a whistle or a stethoscope. For Canyon Lake’s Daniella Villarreal, the opportunity “just opened up” with a process that began with a phone call to gauge her interest, followed by a show-and-tell of a high school campus, then an interview, and finally, a voicemail informing her of her hiring that was left while she taught a class.

Navarro’s Paige Poth planned for a career working in marketing or communications, until one day she was coaxed into getting a teaching certification and becoming an assistant coach. The next thing she knew, she had moved to the Dallas area and turned around a struggling program and led it to its first postseason berth in nearly a decade. Brennan’s Melissa Dahle, Boerne Champion’s Kelly McDaniel and Poth’s Kara (Lucherk) Norburg felt as if it was preordained to be in this occupation.

Toso, New Braunfels’ Danielle (Sanchou) Coleman, Villarreal, Dahle, McDaniel, Norburg and Poth headline a group of former San Antonio-area high school volleyball players who came up together roughly 15 years ago, either as teammates, opponents or as someone instrumental in their team’s success. Sotomayor’s Sarah Cardenas, Taft’s Kaelen (Valdez) Morrow, New Braunfels Long Creek’s Alex Bothe — who led Alamo Heights to the state tournament in 2019 — MacArthur’s Lilly (Chapa) Rost, South San’s Kayla Markgraf, Southside’s Justine Sandoval, Randolph’s Delaney Stevens, Veterans Memorial’s Alexia Bustamante, Churchill’s Julianne Ehrlich and Southwest Legacy’s Amanda Esparza and Marshall’s Denali Sturgeon make up the latest wave of coaches entrusted with keeping the area landscape formidable. Toso, Villarreal, Poth, Norburg, Dahle, Rost — who has led MacArthur to three straight playoff appearances — Sandoval, Stevens and Esparza led their respective teams to this year’s University Interscholastic League playoffs. Ehrlich, who was in her first season after taking over for Katy (Wallace) Ruiz, who played at Brandeis and is now an assistant at Pieper, and Cardenas, who a year ago led the Wildcats to their first playoff spot, missed the postseason by one game. Bustamante, in her first season as a head coach, had Veterans Memorial in contention for a playoff berth with about two weeks left in the regular season.

“We were really competitive,” said Toso, who guided Davenport to the UIL Class 4A state title in 2023 and state semifinals in 2024 and played for legendary coach Yami Garcia at O’Connor, of her playing days. “We were coached by very competitive women, who are still in the profession today. I hope that we’re able to repeat the process. I would love nothing more than in a couple of years to be coaching against one of my kids, who decided to go and be a teacher and coach, and make a difference in some kids’ lives.”

Sports are cyclical, so the chances are prime for such a full-circle occasion. Just as today’s crop of coaches was inspired by the likes of Patti Zenner, Phyllis Fowler, Robin Gerlich, Maddie Williams, the late Sylvia Cardenas, Mike Carter and Theresa Reyes, another generation is likely waiting to take up the baton. Norburg understands this perhaps as well as anyone.

In 2009, she was named to the UIL all-tournament team after helping Poth defeat Aubrey and capture a state championship. In the aftermath at Texas State University’s Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos, she posed for a celebratory photo with assistant coach Amanda Hemby’s 1-year-old daughter, Andi. Seventeen years later, Andi is the Pirettes’ starting setter, and this season helped them win their first district crown since 2023. Norburg, who ran track and cross country at Texas State, was reflective of the journey a year ago when she took over for Zenner, who led Poth to nine state titles. It hit her when she returned to a gym that carried so many fond memories.

“That was probably the weirdest experience of it all,” said Norburg, who previously was head coach at Nocona and Willdorado (near Amarillo) and an assistant at longtime power Hereford, where she was on the staff of Coach Catherine Foerster, now head coach at La Vernia. “It was cool in its own way, but nothing has changed. It’s the same gym, the same banners, the same pictures, the same locker rooms. It was really surreal to be back. I thought it was very cool to share my story (to the players), and what it was like whenever I came through high school, and kind of how we’re trying to move back in that direction.”

Norburg has found success as a head coach at each of her stops, collecting six district titles in her first eight seasons, and earlier this season earned her 200th win. For others, the trek has often been mixed with early growing pains and triumphs.

Dahle, who played at both Clark and Brandeis and served as an assistant under Williams at the latter and also at Granbury, was the third coach in a short span when she took over the reins at Brennan in 2018. Things didn’t get off to a flying start, including dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in the offseason of her first season, but the trials proved worth it less than a week ago when the Bears outlasted Harlan in five sets to claim a share of their first league title.

“I gain in my confidence in my coaching and the way we do things here at Brennan,” Dahle said. “Change is hard, (as are) expectations and asking kids to do things the way you want them to do them, and also finding your own voice in coaching.”

McDaniel served as an assistant at Madison for five seasons under Coach Shannon Wolfe and turned down a few job openings. East Central became the launching pad for her head-coaching tenure, which included a trip to the playoffs with the Hornets and a district crown this season with Boerne Champion. She reminisced on how she struggled early in her coaching with making the adjustment from seeing things through the viewpoint of a player to that of a coach.

“It took me a while to get there, to change modes,” she said. “I would love to make decisions for them, to jump out on the court. A lot of that is building that trust with your athletes, finding ways to let go and realize your job relies on teenage girls.”

Toso was an assistant coach at Austin Lake Travis under Brandace (Cantu) Boren, a former standout player at Edison and UTSA, who was also a head coach at Jay, Warren and TMI. When Boren was unable to coach because of a family emergency, Toso stepped up in her absence. Although she doesn’t remember the details of that contest — the opponent or year — she was hooked on the idea of becoming a head coach.

“As nervous as I was, I loved it,” Toso said. “I kind of always told myself that I knew I had the head-coach itch, but I wanted to make sure I took the right job, not just the head coaching job.”

Poth didn’t have a coming-of-age coaching moment. She helped Pleasanton advance to the Region IV-4A (now 5A) tournament in 2008 before falling in the semifinals to Steele, which was led by 6-foot-3 All-American McKenzie Adams. She attended and graduated from Tarleton State, where she watched matches and played intramural volleyball. She took a job at Poteet High School before moving to New Braunfels as an assistant under Gerlich and Heather Sledge, who recommended her for an opening at Clifton. Poth inherited a team that finished 9-29 the year before her arrival. Two seasons later, the team made the playoffs.

“It was tough,” Poth said. “We had to build from the bottom up. (As a player), I just learned to be a really good teammate and worked hard. I took pride in that.”

With a desire to get closer to her hometown of Pleasanton, she accepted the job at Navarro. In 2024, her second season at the helm, she guided the Panthers to the regional final before falling to eventual state champion Wimberley.

Villarreal, a standout libero on New Braunfels’ 2012 state finalist squad and UTSA’s 2013 NCAA tournament team, had a similar rough climb to success. After the Hawks finished with a combined 25-51 record in their first two seasons in her tenure, they took flight a year ago and advanced to a regional final for the first time. They fell to defending state champion Wimberley.

“I just wanted to get the girls to believe in themselves and know that their hard work will eventually pay off,” said Villarreal, who was an assistant at Clark for four seasons before taking over at Canyon Lake. “I’m a true believer that if you put in the work, then eventually you will see the results. It was definitely a good feeling just to see all their hard work pay off. It was really special.”

With the UIL playoffs kicking off on Thursday, those players-turned-coaches now look to make more special moments.

“It’s one of my favorite parts of what we do, just because we just made a community, and we all support each other,” Dahle said. “I know I can call any of them at any time for advice. We just all really care about each other and want everybody to be successful. It’s fun kind of growing up with all of them and now seeing what we’re doing at this stage that we’re at.”

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