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It’s a mental thing.
The Lady Rattlers claimed six 26-6A All-District postseason awards, with senior libero Julia Gutierrez landing on Second Team and five players being named honorable mentions in junior setter Julia Antu, junior outside hitter Layla Diaz, junior middle blocker Samantha Booth, senior outside hitter Jordan Helbig and senior setter Jade Olivo.
Gutierrez is coming off a memorable season which cemented her name into the record books under five separate categories in her final game as a Lady Rattler, breaking ex-libero Celie Contreras’ digs record in one season with 715. Only two other liberos received All-District honors ahead of Gutierrez, who ranked No. 3 in digs in the district.
“I was very excited to know that I even got anything because I know how hard of a district we are in and I was just hoping and hoping that I would get something,” Gutierrez said. “I was really excited when I heard that I got Second Team because I knew that competing against all these different girls that had so much talent. I’m not going to lie, I was surprised when I knew that I had worked hard and I knew that I was trying my hardest to be recognized and to just put myself out there and I’m glad that it paid off.”
Head coach Michelle Moreno praised the work ethic of her player from the beginning of her career to where she finished and the progress she saw each year to get her to this point.
Moreno and staff named Gutierrez MaxPreps Player of the Year as well.
“She took the role she was given her sophomore and junior year as a defensive specialist and worked for that libero spot her senior year and she took advantage of the opportunity and ran with it,” Moreno said. “It makes my job as a coach easier to have kids who are determined like her and who take care of business. She did and it paid off and we’re happy for her.”
The senior made strides in her game mentally this season. She lacked confidence in filling in Contrereras’ shoes. At the beginning of the year, Julia felt that’s what held her back. But the one thing that separated her talents from last season to this one was her attitude.
“I feel like my defensive attitude, because I know coach Moreno always stresses having a good defensive attitude, which is pursuing everything,” Gutierrez said. “If you pursue everything, there’s a greater chance to get it rather than if you don’t. So I felt like I did a better job at being more aggressive in the back row and just going for everything. From there it just gave me the confidence to pursue everything that came my way and I felt like that played a big factor in my stats.”
San Marcos also placed 14 out of its 15 players on the All-Academic team as well. Moreno was pleased that her girls make being on the court just as important as being off of it. The award goes to players with a 90 or above grade point average during the season.
“That’s a big thing. I always stress grades and how grades can take you further than maybe volleyball might after high school,” Moreno said. “We stress the importance of grades all year, not just during the season. I love that part of my team, that they take pride in their grades. For me, as a coach, I want these girls to excel on and off the court and the classroom is very important.”
