Marble Falls volleyball faces crucial stretch
CAPTION: If the Lady Mustangs plan to extend their season to play past District 24-4A play, they’ll need Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa (left), Brighton Bernard (13), Hannan Welch, Katie Terrell, Kenadi Dalton and Kate McCary to all do what they do best. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School volleyball enters an important three-match streak beginning with Lampasas Tuesday, Sept. 23.
The subvarsities play at 5 p.m. with the varsity following at around 6 p.m.
The Lady Mustangs (9-10, 0-3 District 24-4A) will host its annual Teacher Appreciation Day where educators will be honored before the varsity match begins.
Then the Lady Mustangs travel to play at Taylor (8-16, 1-2) Friday, Sept. 26, before returning to host Jarrell (6-24, 1-2) Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Simply if Marble Falls can beat those three teams twice, it will have swept the season series and gained the crucial head-to-head outcomes that are used to determine playoff spots if there are tied records.
“I’m excited about the matchups coming up,” Marble Falls head coach Zoey Beard-Zanrahan said. “They have shown us the team they can be, and they just need to stay motivated going into these matches.”
Like Marble Falls, the Lady Badgers (10-14, 1-3), Taylor and Jarrell face the same stretch. The difference is that Lampasas already has beaten Taylor 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23 Sept. 9 and Jarrell defeated the Lady Badgers 25-21, 25-22, 25-13 Sept. 12.
But Taylor beat Jarrell in the head-to-head matchup Sept. 16 in five sets, none of which were within seven points of each other.
Those outcomes illustrate a couple of key points.
First, there’s plenty of parity between these four teams.
The second is the team that plays consistently well has the best chance of winning.
Beard-Zanrahan noted that when asked what she is looking for from her squad.
“Focus, drive and passion,” she said. “We just need to be sure to focus on minimizing our unforced errors and having a clean match.”
Marble Falls lost to Salado in straight sets Sept. 19. The Lady Eagles (22-12, 4-0), who are the defending Class 4A Division II Region III champions, were ranked No.18 in last week’s Class 4A poll of the Texas Girls Coaches Association with Georgetown Gateway (17-6, 2-1) at No. 20 and Burnet (18-6, 3-1) at No. 23.
All three teams are in the same district with the Lady Mustangs and already beat them in the first round.
And though Marble Falls didn’t win either match against those ranked teams, the Lady Mustangs pushed Burnet to five sets and Gateway to four sets. That also shows Marble Falls has grown, the coach said, and her players see it.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Comparing it to last season, it’s a no-brainer that there is improvement. They know what kind of team they are striving to be and they are putting in the maximum effort to reach that goal.”
Now it’s about bringing it all together during what could determine the fortunes for the rest of the season. In her address to her players on social media, Beard-Zanrahan wrote:
“It is the matches ahead that will define us. These are the opportunities where we must lock in and play the brand of volleyball I’ve seen from this team all season.”
“They are excited and ready for the competition,” she told TexasChalkTalk.com. “We have worked hard all season, and they are ready to show off that hard work in the weeks ahead.”
