Lady Rattlers close out season, focus on success
Senior and sophomore middle blockers Devin Branch and Samantha Booth rose up one last time.
A New Braunfels hitter tried to spike the ball over the net. The pair of Lady Rattlers were there to meet it.
The ball deflected over Branch and Booth’s hands and fell out of bounds, sealing the match point. The Cougars defeated San Marcos 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-9) at home on Friday in the final game of the regular season.
“Just battled out there, you know,” head coach Michelle Moreno said. “Canyon’s a good team and we wished them the best in playoffs”
The loss marked the end of the road for the Lady Rattlers. San Marcos finished seventh in district with a 1-13 record and ended up with a 17-25 record overall.
The team was successful this season, though. The Lady Rattlers had plenty of strong performances during non-district play, including nine sweeps, a five-match win streak and taking second place in the gold bracket of the Bastrop Tournament.
And while district play didn’t pan out how San Marcos wanted to, Moreno saw her team get better in each game.
“We improved from first round to second round,” Moreno said. “Individually we made improvements. As a team we made improvements. We had little successes and I think that’s what we really need to focus on and build on. We had some great moments throughout the season and those are the things we’re going to definitely build on. And then we have things we have to work on.”
Moreno was proud of the way the Lady Rattlers fought this year. She hopes it’s something the team can build on next season.
“What I’m going to remember most about this team is just that they put the team first,” Moreno said. “Being a team and playing as a team was the top priority. And with 18 girls and with the district season that we had, record-wise, they could have given up at any point. And they didn’t. They just kept showing up and working hard everyday in practice.”
San Marcos will lose eight seniors from this year's team. The Lady Rattlers will have to move on without middle blockers Devin Branch and Shyeann Lampkin, outside hitters Tiana Hicks, Madison Mendez and Kylie Torres, defensive specialists Daciana Anzaldua and Rachel Birk, and libero Celie Contreras.
The Lady Rattlers will have 10 returners on next season’s squad — seven juniors and three sophomores. Moreno plans to put them back to work on Monday.
“I don’t believe in any days off,” Moreno said. “We’re going to start working on leadership and their game and all the young ones and just start building on what we had this year.”
