Back in early August, before a volleyball was spiked or served, the anticipation for the 2021 high school season was through the roof for the San Antonio area.

For teams like Brandeis in Class 6A, New Braunfels Canyon in 5A, Poth in 3A, D’Hanis in 1A and Antonian and New Braunfels Christian in TAPPS, simply winning a district title or making the playoffs wasn’t enough. Each either won a state title or was a win or two from playing for one in 2020.

With each squad returning plenty of key players, contending for a state crown seemed like a realistic aspiration. Getting past a nemesis or a certain round of the playoffs or adjusting to a retooled roster was paramount in making ambition become reality.

“Road to State” chronicles Brandeis’ run to a historic championship and the journeys of New Braunfels Canyon, Poth, D’Hanis, Antonian and New Braunfels Christian that fell shy of the desired goal.

A tough ending

Five high school volleyball teams’ visions of grandeur dissipated in November and December 2020 in gymnasiums in northwest San Antonio, Cuero, Victoria, Round Rock and Buda, just south of Austin. The locations and dates aren’t really important in the bigger picture. What is at the heart of the matter is that Brandeis, New Braunfels Canyon, Poth, D’Hanis and Antonian walked off a court determined to make amends.

A season that had tested coaches and players physically, mentally and emotionally because it was played in the backdrop of a deadly global coronavirus pandemic, left them pondering what might have been and what was needed to get over a hurdle.

The unfulfilling feeling was profound for New Braunfels Canyon and Brandeis. Both were dominant during an abbreviated campaign that started in mid-September and concluded in mid-December, both a month later than the traditional start and finish dates. Both defeated a district opponent twice during the regular season, only to lose to the same team when it mattered most.

New Braunfels Canyon had swept Dripping Springs in one district matchup and prevailed in five sets in the other when the teams met in the Region IV-5A final on Dec. 5, 2020 in Buda. The Cougarettes found themselves on their heels from the start, falling behind 7-0 en route to losing the opening set. The team rebounded in the second frame, scoring the final two points to break a 23-23 tie and even the match at 1-1.

Dripping Springs rolled in winning the third set, but Canyon fought back and led 23-22 in the fourth set, only two points from forcing a decisive fifth. Dripping Springs, though, scored the final three points to record a 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23 victory and a berth to the state semifinals.

“They wanted to get back on the court the next day,” New Braunfels Canyon coach Heather Sanders recalled of her players’ mindset after the loss.

A day earlier, Brandeis was on the doorstep of its first trip to the state semifinals when it faced Reagan in the Region IV-6A final at the Northside ISD Gym. Brandeis had beaten Reagan twice during district play and looked poised to secure a landmark triumph after winning the opening set.

Reagan, however, won the next three frames to claim regional supremacy and a final four berth. The Rattlers overcame a 23-22 deficit in the third set, tallying four of the final five points. In the decisive fourth stanza, Reagan built a six-point lead midway through the stanza and held off a late Brandeis charge for a 19-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-21 triumph.

From the opposite baseline, the Broncos watched as Reagan players and coaches celebrated and hoisted a trophy they so desperately wanted.

“Walking off the court was one of the worse feelings we’ve had,” Brandeis junior outside hitter Emma Halstead said. “Knowing that you’re so close, and you know that you have what it takes to get there, and just coming up a little bit short, we know what this feeling is and we never want to feel it again.”

Schools in classes 1A-4A and TAPPS started a month earlier than the 6A and 5A schools, but the heartbreak of having a successful season end sooner than expected was just as crushing.

Poth, the area’s most successful program with nine state championships, was undergoing somewhat of a youth movement, with nearly half its roster made up of freshmen and sophomores. The Pirettes started slow, losing eight of their first 10 matches, before finding a groove and winning 19 of their final 21 contests. The setbacks were to Boerne in five sets in a warmup match before the playoffs and to Goliad 25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21 in the Region IV-3A final on Nov. 13.

“That’s always a motivator in just them gaining that confidence from last year, knowing that we’re capable of doing that,” Poth coach Patti Zenner said. “Last year, we kind of discovered it during the season. This year, we kind of know that it’s there. We’ve just got to take advantage of it.”

On Nov. 14 in Victoria, Antonian had a similar storyline as Poth’s. The Apaches also had a young team, with more than half the roster being freshmen and sophomores, and started slow. They were unseated as TAPPS 3-6A champion by San Antonio Christian but still advanced to a regional final for the third successive season.

And for the third straight year, Antonian’s season ended one win shy of a trip to the state tournament. The Apaches fell to nemesis Houston St. Agnes 25-23, 25-19, 25-21.

“I know it was a hard time with COVID and being such a young team, but I felt like we had more time to bond and grow as a team,” Antonian All-American setter Olivia Arredondo said. “I just remember wanting to do a lot better than regional final.”

Antonian and the other teams would get that opportunity. A hunger to win turned the sting of defeat into a tidal wave of motivation.

Eyes on the prize

The first week of preseason workouts can be chaotic. Coaches are trying to determine rosters and lineups and work on fundamentals and offensive and defensive strategies. There seemingly isn’t a lot of time to get everything accomplished.

On Aug. 3, 2021, New Braunfels Christian players gathered in the school’s gymnasium after the second day of training. The Wildcats captured TAPPS Division III state crowns in 2019 and 2020 and were runner-ups in 2018, but graduated five starters, including Division I beach signees Camdyn Doucet (Stanford) and Hailey Hamlett (TCU).

With her players seated, New Braunfels Christian coach Megan Dugie pulled out a poster board and asked them to write down their goals for the season.

“We definitely had the same expectations,” Dugie said. “The girls came in knowing that we had a target on our backs because of the success that we had the past few years. The girls wanted to go back to state.”

Dugie knew remaining on top wouldn’t be easy. The Wildcats were young and inexperienced and would need players to step up and fill the production lost by the graduation of Hamlett and Doucet.

“I think this year we all knew it was going to be a lot different,” New Braunfels Christian sophomore Tessa West said. “We were really going to have to fight for it, but we wanted to prove to everyone else that we were still going to be a good team.”

Dugie provided her squad with a tough proving ground, loading its schedule with matches against 2020 Class 4A state finalist Wimberley, Navarro, Poth, Antonian and Incarnate Word and a spot in the Wimberley tournament. The Wildcats had their growing pains, even finishing second in TAPPS 6-3A behind Keystone.

“I think this year we all knew it was going to be a lot different. We were really going to have to fight for it, but we wanted to prove to everyone else that we were still going to be a good team.”

— New Braunfels Christian sophomore Tessa West

“It was hard at first because we did lose a lot,” West said. “We kind of went into this year thinking we would be able to do it again, but it’s definitely a lot tougher.”

New Braunfels Christian opened its bid for a third consecutive state title by sweeping Conroe Covenant Christian. In the second round, though, Temple Central Texas Christian topped the Wildcats 25-21, 25-16, 26-24.

“It was very upsetting just because it was a big legacy that we just fell short of,” New Braunfels Christian senior Sylvie Elrod said. “I really appreciated this year a lot more than other ones. The group of girls we had was something special, even if we didn’t win (state).”

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Sept. 24 wasn’t any different than any other day during the 2021 season. It was a Friday and Antonian was five days from its district opener and New Braunfels Canyon was four days from starting the second round of District 26-5A competition when the teams met for a non-district encounter at Antonian’s Recko Gym.

Canyon had won six in a row, but Sanders was worried about the level at which her team had been playing. Antonian had finished second at the Round Rock Westwood Showcase and third at Smithson Valley’s Texas Showdown and had registered wins against Austin Westlake, Smithson Valley and Austin High. Both teams already had 30 victories.

For 1 1/4 sets, the contest was everything that could be expected between teams with a state-tournament-or-bust mentality. Canyon and Antonian exchanged kill for kill, dig for dig, block for block and ace for ace. Midway through the second set, though, the Cougarettes pulled away and never relented on the way to a 25-22, 25-14, 25-14 win.

Afterward, Sanders was thrilled with the outcome, mentioning how fun her team was to watch and coach. Antonian coach Samantha McLure, on the other hand, motioned for her team to head to its locker room. McLure walked closely behind her players, her face etched with “that look.”

Former players know well what the facial expression means. The Apaches have won four state titles, made eight state-tournament appearances and advanced to at least the regional final 15 times during McLure’s 16 seasons thanks, in part, to a take-on-anyone approach. Whether Antonian wins or loses is one thing. How the team performs against top-shelf competition is another.

“Coach ‘Mac’ has a very high standard,” said Sarah Bell, who was a setter on Antonian’s 2011 and 2014 state semifinalist squads before going on to a standout career at the University of Southern Mississippi. “She doesn’t want to lose to anyone. There were times where I got my butt chewed out when I was playing for her, and that’s not fun. You can either get butt-hurt about it, or you can just say she’s trying to make me better. She has made that the standard for Antonian volleyball. Yeah, we’re a private school, but I felt we will always compete with these bigger public schools.”

Whatever McLure said to her players in the locker room after the loss to Canyon paid dividends. The Apaches won their next 13 matches — all in sweeps — before falling to Tomball Concordia 22-25, 25-15, 25-22, 23-25, 15-6 in a regional final in Flatonia. Another promising season ended one win shy of what was expected.

“We’ve been getting stuck at regionals for a while and this year we were like, ‘We’re not going to let that happen again,’ ” Antonian sophomore outside hitter Kalina Calvillo said. “We definitely thought that this year was different — everyone thought that — especially after we beat Smithson Valley in five sets. After that, I think we all thought, ‘Wow, we can really do this, guys.’ It’s heartbreaking because I know how much (McLure) believes in us, and she sees the best in us even when we can’t see it ourselves.”

Coming up short

New Braunfels Canyon senior libero Victoria Fontenot stood with her hands on her hips. Her head was slightly bowed, but not enough to hide the disbelief on her face. A few feet away, Kyla Malone and Alyssa Koehl wiped away tears and McKenzie Woitena stared into the distance.

This wasn’t the ending the Cougarettes envisioned. Not after they left a gym in Buda in December 2020, with tears of disappointment yielding to a state-or-bust resolve.

Canyon couldn’t sustain a strong start and fell to Grapevine 18-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-10 in the UIL Class 5A state semifinals at the Culwell Center in Garland.

“I wanted nothing more than for them to get this first win here, and I’m just really sad we couldn’t get it done for them,” Sanders said.

It was one of the few times during the season that Canyon failed to hit its target. The Cougarettes, who recorded a school-record 43 wins, outlasted Leander Rouse in five sets in the third round and topped nemesis Dripping Springs to earn a state berth.

The triumph vs. Dripping Springs was especially pleasing for Canyon. Dripping Springs defeated Canyon in the regional final in 2020 and then defeated Canyon twice during the regular season. Dripping Springs prevailed 27-25, 24-26, 28-26 in the first round of the Gold Bracket at the Fraulein Volleyfest in New Braunfels on Aug. 21. Canyon led 14-7 in the final set, rallied from a 24-21 deficit by fighting off three match points to grab a 25-24 advantage and earn a match point. The Tigers tallied four of the final five points to win.

“They were seething,” Sanders said of her players.

Canyon swept Dripping Springs 25-15, 25-20, 28-26 in District 26-5A action on Aug. 31 and was on a roll until the teams squared off in the second half of league play. On Oct. 1, the Tigers outlasted Canyon 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 29-31, 15-12.

The Cougarettes won their final seven matches to conclude the regular season and had plenty of momentum heading into the postseason. They swept Leander and Jefferson to open the playoffs, edged Leander Rouse in five sets in the third round and topped Gregory-Portland in the regional semifinals to advance to the regional final against Dripping Springs for the second year in a row.

“From the second we lost last year, I think it was pretty obvious to all of us that this was going to be the same match this year,” said Canyon All-American outside hitter Kyla Malone. “Obviously, we wanted to be on top of it.”

The Cougarettes’ wish came true as they romped past Dripping Springs 25-15, 25-22, 25-21. They nabbed their first state-tournament berth since 2015 — and avenged a heartbreaking loss to the same team a year earlier at the same time.

“It feels amazing knowing how much work we put in, and also it feels great doing it with this team,” Canyon sophomore setter Megan Hawkins said. “We have so much team chemistry. We all came together and we wanted it really bad. We performed.”

Canyon, though, wasn’t satisfied with just earning a trip to the state tournament. The Cougarettes truly believed they had the pieces to win a state championship and things looked good when they won the first two sets against Grapevine in the state semifinals.

Grapevine, however, regrouped and won the third set to stay alive. The Mustangs rallied from a 16-13 deficit in the fourth set, closing on a 12-2 run, to even the match at 2-2 and force a decisive fifth set. In the final frame, Grapevine used a 5-0 to break a 6-6 tie and never looked back en route to registering a come-from-behind victory.

“That was a really good game,” Fontenot said. “We didn’t get the last few points that we needed; lost momentum a lot, and it’s hard to overcome. There was a visible change in how we took balls, how we hit balls, and I think that being able to conquer that little rut was a real big deficient for us.”

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A year ago, D’Hanis advanced to the 1A state semifinals for the third time in four seasons. The Cowgirls lost to eventual state champion Neches, the second time they had a season ended by the team that would go on to win the title. In 2017, Bronte edged the Cowgirls 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 14-25, 15-13 in the state semifinals.

With Mabry Herrmann, Jolie Frosch, Peyton Burell, Addie Harkins and Toni Burell returning, the pieces were in place to take the next step. In the offseason, though, longtime coach Courtney Rodriguez left to take the head-coaching job at Hondo. Kristina Finger, a D’Hanis graduate, was tabbed as the successor.

A new coach didn’t change D’Hanis’ expectations of winning state.

“They pretty much set that for themselves,” Finger said. “They had super-high expectations, just as high as I did. They had that fire within themselves. No coach had to instill that in them. I think just coming in with a plan and a mindset of, ‘This is what we’re going to do, we’re not going to accept anything less,’ I think really helped them.”

Early-season injuries and COVID protocols sidelined players, but the Cowgirls overcame the adversity to earn a share of the District 30-1A title. After a first-round bye, D’Hanis swept Benavides to move to the third round and only one win from a sixth consecutive appearance at the regional tournament.

The prospects looked promising after D’Hanis captured the first two sets against San Isidro in their third-round contest on Nov. 9. But the Tigers rebounded and stunned D’Hanis 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-12. The Cowgirls defeated San Isidro 25-14, 25-13, 25-21 in the same round in 2020.

“We expected to be in the state tournament this year,” Finger said. “Jumping on them two games was exactly what we wanted. We just were not able to finish a set in the last three.”

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Every year at the state tournament, the University Interscholastic League recognizes the teams that won state championships 10 years earlier. The 2011 Poth Pirettes, led by Jordan Kotara, Avery Acker, Kelsee Felux, Micah Weaver and Jessica Dziuk, received their moment in the spotlight this year.

Poth lost to White Oak in the 2010 state final and entered the 2011 campaign on a mission to reclaim the throne. With Division I prospects Kotara (UTSA), Acker (SMU) and Felux (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) leading the way, Poth pounded Nocona 25-8, 25-9, 25-12 in the Class 2A (now 3A) final before a crowd of 2,256 at Texas State University’s Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos.

The Pirettes limited Nocona to just 29 points, the fewest in a state-tournament match since the UIL’s adoption of the rally-scoring format in 2003, and a negative-.159 hitting percentage. Nocona had nearly twice as many hitting errors (24) as it had kills (13).

Back in Wilson County at the time, second-grader Sydney Kroll embraced the pomp and circumstance surrounding the occasion.

“I definitely remember sending them off on the bus, and watching them hang up the banner in the school,” Kroll said. “That was fun to watch. We definitely have that motivation to be up there with everyone else.”

This year’s Poth team had its own inspiration coming into the season. The Pirettes advanced to the regional final in 2020 before falling to Goliad. With 11 players returning, a trip to state was at the forefront. Poth opened the season by winning six of its first seven matches, lost six of its next seven, won three in a row, then lost six in a row. The Pirettes regrouped and went 16-0 in district play, then added to the momentum with a five-set win over Schulenburg in a playoff warmup match.

The Pirettes swept Yoakum in bidistrict and Ingram — coached by former Poth standout player Tara Dunn — in the second round, earning a date with Columbus and moving within a win of a trip to the Region IV-3A tournament. But playing in the same facility in which its 2000 season ended with a loss, Poth dropped the first two sets, then won the next two frames to even the contest and force a decisive fifth set. Columbus jumped to an early lead in the final stanza and prevailed 26-24, 25-18, 15-25, 16-25, 15-11 in Cuero.

“It was horrible deja vu,” Kroll said. “It felt horrible just to know you’re done. In previous years, it was always more devastating just because we never played to our potential in the last game. This year, knowing that we did really give it our all, it definitely felt a little less devastating when we had to step off the court. We knew it would be a tough game, but we really thought we could do it. We definitely took it hard. I feel like all of us were content because we knew we left it all on the court. Sure, we wish we would’ve won, but we put it all out there.”

With Poth, Antonian, New Braunfels Christian, D’Hanis and New Braunfels Canyon falling short in their bids for a state title, Brandeis was left as the area’s final hope.

The Broncos didn’t disappoint.

‘We did it. We did it.’

Darkness fell over the Culwell Center in Garland. It was Nov. 20, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and a parking lot that was nearly full moments earlier had dwindled to about a dozen vehicles. Most of the venue’s staff had departed.

But on a patio just outside the facility’s main entrance, a celebration was underway. A portal sound system blared songs that reflected the thrill of victory. Post Malone’s “Congratulations” was first on the playlist. Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” was next, followed by Pit Bull’s “Time of Our Lives” and the time-honored “We Are the Champions,” another classic by Queen.

For an hour, coaches, players, parents and supporters of the Brandeis High School volleyball team basked in a history-making moment — a 27-29, 25-23, 16-25, 25-15, 15-12 win over Keller to capture the UIL Class 6A state title. There were hugs, dancing and photos. Players excitedly recorded posts to upload to social media platforms.

“We were taking in every moment, and I wanted our team to make sure to have the time to celebrate with their friends, family, teammates, etc.” Brandeis coach Maddie Williams said. “This was so important to our community, to those that traveled and watched online, to the players, managers, and coaches that stayed the course and focused on our mission. They deserved to celebrate.

“Was this a surreal moment? Absolutely. I think once we won, it hit my coaching staff and I, (that) all the work we put in to make sure our team was prepared in every single match, we were so proud of the girls and pushing through. To stay driven all season long toward one common goal and not really have many detours was huge. Every coach dreams of the win on the big stage, and when it happens, all the years of coaching just run through your head.”

The Broncos (47-2), No. 3 in MaxPreps’ Top 25 and No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association/USA Today Super 25 final national rankings, ended the season on a 25-match winning streak. Yet it was a loss to Reagan in the regional final on Dec. 4, 2020, that was the catalyst to a magical season.

In the aftermath of the setback, Williams and her assistants, Maricela Bollier and Sarah Morris, met to examine the state of the program. What worked, they asked? What needed to be tweaked to get over the hump? The players returned to school the following Monday and their attention quickly was focused on the 2021 season. Coaches met individually with each player to get a pulse of the team’s ambitions.

“I am pretty sure in every varsity returner’s meeting, they said we were going to state,” Williams said. “We all knew we had unfinished business and we had to be all-in to accomplish this goal of not just getting to the state tournament, but winning it.”

Workouts were intense, with players — no matter if they were a senior or freshman, a starter or someone who received little playing time — holding one another accountable.

“It was super tough on our bodies, but we knew it was preparing us,” Brandeis senior libero Dani Gray said.

The results showed as much. The Broncos started the season 16-0 before suffering their first loss when they relinquished a two-set lead and fell to Clark in five sets in a District 28-6A opener on Aug. 24. The team rebounded a few days later, finishing in third place at the prestigious 68-team Volleypalooza in Leander on Aug. 28. Brandeis’ only setback was to national power Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei in three sets in the semifinals.

“It was, ‘Oh my gosh, we can do that,’ ” Williams said of the Mater Dei result. “Even though we took a loss, it opened our eyes.”

What the Broncos saw was that they had the potential to win it all. They went 22-1 in three preseason tournaments, winning titles at the Katy/Cy Fair and North East ISD events. More importantly, the Broncos cleared an important obstacle vs. Reagan, winning in a sweep in their first meeting on Sept. 10 and prevailing in four sets during the second encounter on Oct. 12.

“I really think what was so impressive to me as a coach is the determination throughout this journey,” Williams said. “They knew every team was another obstacle to our goal, and they literally came out like that in every match. We had an agenda and they did whatever it would take to make sure they got to play another day. They were going to win, and they made sure everyone on the team believed in each other and supported each other. They would tell me time after time throughout the season, ‘Coach, we are going to win this. Don’t worry, we are going to win.’ And that they did.”

Brandeis began the playoffs by sweeping East Central in bidistrict and Round Rock in the second round. The Broncos stopped district opponent Madison in four sets in the third round to earn a trip to the region tournament. They toppled Harlan in the regional semifinals and Austin Vandegrift in the regional final.

For the first time, Brandeis was going to play on the sport’s biggest stage.

The Broncos defeated Bridgeland in four sets in the state semifinals on Nov. 19, becoming the first area team in the state’s largest classification to record a win at the state tournament since Churchill in 2013. Brandeis faced Keller a day later and stood on the doorstep of history. It didn’t waste the opportunity.

After splitting the first four sets with Keller, the Broncos led 14-12 and had the second of three match points in the decisive fifth set. Setter Carlee Pharris pushed the volleyball to teammate Leila Smalls, who smacked the ball off the hands of Keller’s Sophia Odle. The deflection caromed out of bounds for the winning point, making Brandeis the first San Antonio team since Clark in 2003 to claim the ultimate prize.

The crowd on the home side erupted. Smalls, Pharris, Jalyn Gibson, Halstead, Sophia Kuyn and Gray fell to their knees in exhilaration as a blue-and-orange blur of teammates rushed to join them on the court. Public address announcer Kat Balch, speaking in staccato, summed up the moment succinctly: “Point. Set. Match. Brandeis.”

A massive celebration brought out on the court. Coaches and players hugged. They cried. They shrieked, “We did it. We did it.” An occasion that was nearly a year in the making had been achieved.

After media interviews, an hour-plus-long celebration that began in the team’s locker room and carried over to a patio at the Culwell Center, a trip to a fast-food chain for a meal and a 5-hour bus ride that saw the team arrive in San Antonio at 3:30 a.m., Brandeis was a conquering hero.

The excitement and honors have yet to subside. The team was recognized by Northside ISD board of trustees, the school’s booster club and at the Alamo Bowl Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast on Dec. 27. State championship rings were ordered.

“Sometimes it is hard to believe everything that is happening,” Williams said.

Then again, the adulation was a byproduct of attaining a goal — one that the Broncos wouldn’t allow anything to keep them from reaching.

“I think it definitely helped being tested,” Pharris said. “It showed that we could fight, and we can come back, and we can really work hard. It showed that we have that grit and we’re a team who’s not going to give up. We’ve worked for everything we have.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1