Marble Falls volleyball beats Taylor to punch playoff ticket

The Marble Falls High School volleyball team is back in the playoffs after sweeping Taylor 25-16, 25-19, 25-10 Oct. 21 in the final regular season match in Max Copeland Gym and Georgetown Gateway beating Jarrell at the same time.

This playoff berth is the Lady Mustangs’ first since 2009.

“As soon as we were able to put our foot and find that gas petal, we hit it,” Lady Mustangs head coach Zoey Beard-Hanrahan said. “They found their stride, every one of my girls, and I got to get all my seniors in today. And in regards to this season and this program, I can say that I feel so incredibly honored to be given this group my first year of coaching the high school level. They are so talented, they are also kind. We have such great heart, they have the skill to do what needs to be done. And they love each other, and that’s really what is taking for us to this point. It’s been a long time since this program has been able to get to the playoffs.”

Beard-Hanrahan noted there was a small bump that happened at the beginning of the match. Wanting to honor her seniors in their final appearance in the Max after a short ceremony, she started all six of them: Tessie Bowen, Kenadi Dalton, Payton Dunk, Kate Dykes, Kate McCary and Lily Stein. The Lady Ducks raced to an 8-2 lead when the coach called a timeout and refocused the Lady Mustangs.

Eventually, the two teams played to a 15-15 tie then Marble Falls led 21-17, which forced Taylor to call a timeout. That didn’t matter as the Lady Mustangs built too much of a cushion.

“They snapped out of it,” the coach said. “We started kind of slow me. I’m like, ‘Ok, you dug yourselves out of a hole. Beautiful job doing that. Now let’s remember why we love this.'” 

The second set was similar to the first in that the two teams matched each other point for point at the beginning. But Marble Falls made some runs to take at least a six-point lead and weren’t seriously threatened.

By the third set, the Lady Mustangs were in firm control. Beard-Hanrahan inserted different players. While they each tried doing different things and enjoyed being out on the floor, their intensity didn’t change.

“Even in practice when I’m hard on them, or it’s a particularly difficult drill that I’m refusing to let up, because it’s an important aspect of the sport, I’m like, ‘You know that you’ll do this better when you’re enjoying it.’ When you’re timid and you’re afraid to make those mistakes, that’s when we make those mistakes. So have fun.” 

The other key piece is that the Lady Mustangs ruled the net throughout the match. No matter who was in the front row, there was a real commitment to blocking and forcing the hitters to adjust.

“Last week we really focused on making sure we fed the middles early,” the coach said. “So that we open up (our outside hitters). And that is what we saw. My setters are making smarter decisions and really thinking about ‘who are my essential hitters on the front row? Who should I set so we open them up?’ We did see holes on the other side and we were able to tip those balls. But also I like having them on their heels because we’ve taken a few hard swings. That’s smart, too. So my front row did an amazing job. They weren’t doing the same thing over and over again but mixing it up and making it difficult on the other team to read.”

Sophomore hitter Brighton Bernard credited the coaching staff and Beard-Hanrahan, who took over the program in May, for the team’s success. She said the practices are conducted with an agenda where the players “actually had stuff done.”

Marble Falls will either face China Springs or Gatesville in the first round. Those two teams play Friday, Oct. 24. As a player Beard-Hanrahan has won numerous matches and enjoyed tremendous success. She noted that making the playoffs come back to a group of players who all want the same thing.

“I became an animal every time I was out there,” she said. “That was just the kind of player that I was. I think it takes quite a few girls to be like that to get to where you want to go, where you demand excellence from yourself and the team around you. And it’s having a common goal.”

The Lady Mustangs will end the regular season at Jarrell Friday, Oct. 22, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 6 p.m.

As she reflected on the win against Taylor, Beard-Hanrahan noted the early challenges that illustrate just how far her squad has come.

“I’m glad that they were able to come out of that time out and prove me right,” she said. “They are the team I think they are. They dug themselves out of the hole and then proceeded to move forward and it was neck and neck. But Taylor did some good things, they were tipping the ball, making it hard for us to do anything good with them. Sometimes we were really sloppy but we were able to do our jobs.”