Lady Rattlers upset by Lady Hawks in rivalry match, 3-1
San Marcos had to learn some tough lessons Friday evening.
The Lady Rattlers fell 3-1 (22-25,17-25, 25-22, 23-25) to the Lady Hawks in their unusual third meeting of the season. The purple and white had only given up one out of six total sets in the previous two matches this season, but a very different story played out in Oran Bales gym.
.@SanMarcosHSVB Head Coach Jared Te’o (@CoachTeoVB) talks tonight’s match against Buda Hays. ⬇️
Part 1:@smdrsports pic.twitter.com/R3wnRyIiSt— Jude McClaren (@judemcclaren) October 9, 2021
“I think in any sport it's hard to beat a team one time, twice is hard, but three times is, like, really tough,” head coach Jared Te’o said following the loss. “Especially when it’s your in-district, in-county rival. So that's kind of hard. But I think just in general, you've got to stay hungry every single time. You have to know that people are gonna make adjustments on you, and what adjustments you can make in those situations. So it's always tough, but at the end of the day it's volleyball, and you've got to perform.”
San Marcos (29-9, 5-4 district) fell victim to Buda Hays’ (12-27, 5-4) size, ball control and pressure on the floor in another intense rivalry match. But many of the problems the Lady Rattlers experienced Friday were self-inflicted. From six missed serves in the last 10 points, to 22 total errors throughout the match, the purple and white’s struggles rest in their own hands.
Similar to the Lady Rattlers' last loss against Westlake, the way to turn losses into wins comes down to execution. San Marcos has been sticking with the same drills in practice to address their issues that have persisted, but their next step is having that translate to the match.
“We just have to be more bought in and being good student-athletes and following our culture as a team and making sure we're doing the little things,” Te’o said. “I'm a very wear-my-emotions-on-my-sleeve type of person, so if I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. I think in general, I need them to do the same thing. Like, if I'm going to dig it off a blocked tip, (we’ve got to have the mindset of), ‘I'm going to do it.’ So we've got to work harder and try to figure out certain things but our team has to buy in and we have to have a culture shift of doing all the little things because I'm not playing games.”
The one thing that did work consistently for the purple and white was junior setter Ruby Gordon tossing it up to senior Texas State commit Maggie Walsh. The tandem accounted for or were involved in 50 of the team’s total points, whether it was through Gordon’s scoring or Walsh’s kills. Gordon totaled 42 assists on the night, while Walsh contributed a double-double with 31 kills and 22 digs. Freshman outside hitter Brinkley Reeves also posted a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs.
San Marcos will look to bounce back next Tuesday when it returns to the Snake Pit for the first time in two weeks to play Austin Akins (9-19, 1-7). San Marcos swept the Lady Eagles in their previous district match on Sept. 17.
