SMHS VOLLEYBALL
San Marcos fell in district play Tuesday night as the Rattlers were swept by the No. 17 ranked New Braunfels Canyon Cougars 3-0 [25-12, 25-15, 25-10].
It was a tough loss for the Rattlers who fell to 512 overall and 0-6 in district play.
“We battled,” Head Coach Ryann Torres said. “[We were competitive at the] beginning of each set, and we just took their foot off the gas pedal. That is something that we need to be implementing in practice and how to keep fighting.”
The Rattlers battled Canyon early in the first set, trailing 10-9. But the Cougars went on a 14-0 run to reach set point at 24-9 before winning the first set at 25-12.
San Marcos fought back in the second set, taking the lead over the Cougars at 8-7. After the Rattlers and the Cougars were tied at 9-9, Canyon responded with a 10-1 run to lead 19-10 before winning the second set at 25-15.
In the final set, San Marcos once again battled Canyon tough, trailing 10-9. But the Cougars answered with a 15-1 run to win the third set at 25-10 and complete the sweep.
For Torres, the team needs to continue embracing the underdog role as the Rattlers march forward in the second round of district play.
“Just coming out of the locker right now, as a staff, we told them to take pride in being the underdogs,” Torres said. “Claim it in having a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, [digging] up a really good hitter that has a fast hard-driven ball. It’s still a work in progress. It’s still a lot of building, but we’re going to get there.”
With the Rattlers looking for their first district win of the season, Torres mentioned what the team has improved on and what still needs to be worked on.
“We play really good defense,” Torres said. “Our defense is scrappy. That’s how we keep up with the fast teams. What we still need to work on is just our hitting execution. Our offense, we have to hit the court consistently. We’ve got to keep the ball in play, knowing when to keep the ball in play, recycle, and knowing when to have a hard-driven ball.
“Just adjusting to a lot of different sets because volleyball is 80% out of the system, so we have to learn how to play 80% out of the system.”
San Marcos continues district play on the road against Buda Johnson. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. Friday.
