HCCS VOLLEYBALL
It had been 27 years since the San Marcos Hill Country Christian School Rams had hoisted up the state title in volleyball and many wondered when the championship drought would end.
Despite coming up short against Wichita Falls Christ Academy in the state championship game last season, senior Saylor Martinez knew this year was going to be the year the drought would end.
“We wanted it really bad since we did lose,” Martinez said. “We needed to have our comeback season. This is our year, if we’re going to win, we’re going to win this year.”
In a thrilling five-set match, the Rams snapped their title drought, defeating Christ Academy 3-2 [25-23, 24-26, 13-25, 25-18, 15-13] to win the TAPPS 1A State title.
Not only was the title win a massive moment for senior Ronnie Chambers but also a way to give back to the school and community that had supported them all season.
“It’s a huge honor,” Chambers said. “I’m trying to find words to put into that, but it just feels like something that we’re proud to do for our community. It feels like we really did it for the school. It makes me feel honored as a senior that all of the teammates and coaches really pushed for us to finish this season with a bang.”
Coming off of losing in the state title game the year before, Martinez felt the team needed to overcome the mental blocks many championship teams face during their championship runs.
“A big reason we fell short last year is just letting the little mental things get to us,” Martinez said. “We had a lot of mental blocks, which is how the game was going. So we had to learn to overcome that perseverance through stuff like that and just getting over that you can still win after falling short.”
Another factor in the Rams’ title hunt was the hunger to redeem themselves following the loss in the title game.
“This year we also wanted it a lot more since last year we did lose,” Chambers said. “Since we had new teammates and new coaches, they pushed us harder to get to that goal.”
But the Rams faced a new challenge coming into the season learning under a new head coach.
First year head coach and Hill Country Christian School alum, Abigail Flack took over the program of the Rams and was tasked with leading the Rams. She saw the potential of what the Rams could do as a program.
“Learning how to push them and challenge them in new ways in practice,” Flack said. “A lot of these girls have been playing for years and they know volleyball. So I had to find ways to make it more challenging in practice, make it quicker and really encourage them to keep growing.”
Being a first year head coach, Flack also had her personal obstacles to overcome.
“Some of the challenges that I faced were actually allowing myself to take a deep breath and be in the moment,” Flack said. “I knew this team had potential from the beginning, so I analyzed again and again on what I could do better to put this team in the best position possible. I think part of the overanalyzing at times was because of it being my first year. I wanted to make sure I was doing my best just like the whole team was doing.
“As the season continued, I grew more confident. I made sure to keep learning along the whole journey, something I would like to encourage myself and others with is to enjoy the adventure.”
The Rams continued where they left off and rolled through the regular season en route to making a return trip back to the state tournament where they defeated Houston Second Baptist to advance to the state championship game.
But one more giant stood in their way. Christ Academy.
Not only did the Rams fall to the Warriors in last season’s title game but Christ Academy was the five-time defending champions who looked to become the first-ever TAPPS team to win six state titles in a row.
In a David vs Goliath type championship game, the nerves were through the roof.
“We were all, in my opinion, we were all pretty nervous since we had lost last year,” Martinez said. “So it was just a lot of nerves and a little discouraged since we knew that they had oneup us the year before.”
But despite the nerves, the Rams had something more important. The faith and belief of the school and community supporting them.
“The fact that they’ve won so many times and that we won 27 years ago and we won so long ago [was unnerving],” Chambers said. “But we had a lot of faith from our fans and our coaches.”
In the grueling battle that saw the title game reach five sets, both teams were tied at 1313. Needing two more points, the Rams pulled through and toppled the five-time defending state champions to win the fifth set 15-13 and win HCCS’s first state championship since 1998.
“It was a lot of emotions, but I really felt like a breakthrough moment for our school and our team,” Chambers said. “To be like, ‘we knew you could’, and now ‘you literally did it.’” For Martinez, the win was a huge sigh of relief knowing how close the Rams were last year.
“We had a lot relying on that game and with it being in the fifth set within a couple of points,” Martinez said. “It was just a huge relief when we did win because we had worked so hard for that all season and we didn’t want to fall short again. So it was just a big breakthrough. We haven’t won in a very long time, so it was a really great moment for all of us.”
It was also a significant moment for Flack as well, who was part of many Rams volleyball teams that advanced to the state tournament but were unable to capture the title.
“It felt like redemption,” Flack said. “Getting to come back to that gym and actually go all the way and take it all. I’m just glad that I could be part of it.”
But besides gaining redemption in capturing the elusive title, the moment is more special for Flack because of the players she coached.
“As coaches, we have so much faith in the girls,” Flack said. “We knew they could, but it still takes them showing up, pulling it through and just getting to see them actually execute. It just meant the world to us, to see them know they could and actually do it.”
