Sunday, April 28, 2024
The questions and the narratives surrounding the Gatesville Volleyball team as they head into the 2023 season are ones that could also be asked and applied to several Hornet and Lady Hornet programs over the next nine months.
How do you replace a stellar senior class, replicate the previous season’s success, and re-build for another playoff run?
For Janey Weber and the Lady Hornet Volleyball team – fresh off of a 20th consecutive playoff berth and Regional Quarterfinal appearance – the answer is that they don’t necessarily re-build. They re-load.
In 2022, they finished the year 24-20 and endured an uneven regular season before peaking in the second half of district. After a 2-3 record in the first half of district, they went 4-1 in the second half. They dealt district champ Salado their only league loss then topped Robinson in a tiebreaker to secure the district’s No. 3 seed.
The late-season charge continued in the playoffs as they took down Georgetown Gateway in five games in bi-district, swept Caldwell in the area round, then lost a five-set heartbreaker to Lago Vista in the regional-quarterfinals. It was Gatesville’s deepest playoff run since a similar third round appearance in 2012 and was led largely by seniors Kayleigh Haywood, Lola Barron, Charlee Barron, Chloe Matthews, and Rachel Garrett.
“We struggled and struggled and then at the end, I think our kids just decided they weren't going to lose. They were just ready to go,” said Weber. “We got more cohesive, but I think it was that (Salado) game that really flipped it for everybody. That kind of showed them we can be pretty good whenever we go put everything together and go play.”
Arguably, no program at Gatesville High School has had more sustained success over the last two decades than the Lady Hornets volleyball team. Former head coach and current Athletic Director Rickey Phillips led the Lady Hornets to 17 straight berths before handing the reins to Weber, whose teams advanced to the bi-district round in her first two seasons.
Weber more than contributed to Gatesville’s success as a star on three of Phillips best teams from 2008 to 2010. The Lady Hornets advanced to the third round of the playoffs in 2009 and to the regional tournament in 2010 – a season in which she tallied 317 kills and 92 aces and was named to the All-State team.
Now in her fourth season as head coach, Weber has high hopes for a 21st straight playoff appearance despite returning just three healthy starters. She draws from recent experience when it comes to the re-loading process. In 2022, they were faced with replacing Tasha Thoms and were also without Haywood for a large stretch of the season.
Reload
“It's exciting to see who's going to fill the shoes of those previous years' kids that you lost. We had quite a few kids who stepped up, just jumped at those roles (last year),” Weber said. “You lose people every year. It happens every year. You kind of get used to it, but you say ‘okay who wants to be the bread and butter?’ That go-to person.”
Fortunately for Weber, she will build around an experienced and decorated group of returning players.
Sophomore Emma Pollard was named the District 23-4A Newcomer of the Year in 2022 and returns to handle the middle for the Lady Hornets. Senior outside hitter Barret Boyd was an honorable mention all-district selection last season as was junior Tamiah Miller, who will miss the 2023 season due to injury. Senior outside hitter Laura Trejo rounds out the group of returners.
Weber also expressed enthusiasm for her potential varsity newcomers but was intent on keeping those names close to her vest.
“There are a few. I won't give names but there are a few,” she said.
Practices officially began on July 31 and Weber said she felt like her roster would start to take shape near the end of the first week in time for their first scrimmage of the season against Killeen, Troy, and West on Aug. 4.
Their regular season opens at home against Waco University on Aug. 7 and begins a daunting non-district slate. The Lady Hornets will travel to Austin for the always-difficult Jason Landers Invitational in Austin on Aug. 10 and other non-district opponents this season include Belton, Lake Belton, Fairfield, and a Georgetown Gateway team surely intent on exacting some measure of revenge.
“I try and make a very competitive schedule. And to me I think it helps, it helps show us as coaches and players our flaws and what we need to work on. I want to see that kind of fight in them,” Weber said.
The fight Weber is looking for will be necessary as the 23-4A will be another doozy.
“Some of the teams in our district may have lost a couple of people but they're all still going to be very, very competitive,” Weber said. “Our district is going to be really, really tough.”
Robinson and China Spring lost in the bi-district round in 2022 while Salado advanced to the regional tournament. The Lady Eagles fell in four games to state semi-finalist Huffman Hargrave and are the likely favorites in the district again in 2023.
Weber’s team may gel immediately or make another late season charge. But it’s not a matter of if but when.
“Sometimes it's in spring and sometimes it's in August. But sometimes it might be district or playoffs. But I think they get it too. They're like, ‘okay, we got shoes to fill. Right. We just have to go work,” Weber added.
