Marble Falls volleyball earns big wins
CAPTION: Libero Taylor Brydon has been the anchor for the back row in digs and passing the ball to the setters to get the offense going. Staff photos by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School volleyball team won both of its matches last week.
The Lady Mustangs defeated San Marcos 3-1 Sept. 4 and Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin 3-2 Sept. 1.
The win against San Marcos came after the two teams split the first two sets.
“That was an exciting match,” head coach Zoey Beard-Hanrahan said. “(Head coach Ryann Torres) has a great team over in San Marcos, and they were at (our) home this year, which was fun.”
The Lady Mustang handled themselves well in the first set.
“We came out strong,” Beard-Hanrahan said. “We started off strong with our middle connection in that first set, then we lost it in the second set, found it again in set three and then in set four, we just took it home.”
She explained what happened in the second set.
“I think a lot of that was audience momentum,” the coach said. “We had more people there, and then unfortunately with the football game going on, they all eventually left. And so that second set didn’t look so hot, and we just were trying to find it again.”
Beard-Hanrahan called the victory against Ann Richards “a gut check” because her team had to fight back from being down 0-2.
“I’m still trying to figure out why we can’t come out strong,” she said. “In the first set, we just seemed like we’ve been on a bus for two hours right out of the gate, and the first set was not looking good. And then the second set started, and I started to see some more life. We got outplayed in that one, and when teams hit that momentum point, you just have to ride that wave a little bit.”
But in the third set, the Lady Mustangs performed the way their coach believes they can.
“When the third set hit, the momentum shifted in our favor, and we just could do no wrong,” she said. “We really competed with them and then by the fourth set, we were up on them by eight points. And they called a timeout just to try to see if they could get it fixed. But at that point, there was no stopping my girls. They just found it. That final set, they felt warm.”
Beard-Hanrahan pointed out that defensive specialist Taylor Brydon’s back row defense has been a big plus for her team.
“I had a Taylor Brydon playing in my libero position for all three of the last sets,” she said. “She stayed in and she was so consistent and had such a great match. And my setters finally were able to make those connections with the middle (blockers), which opened up my (outside hitters). Everything just started cooking, and it made me feel really good to see.”
In fact, Brydon’s serve was a weapon. She had five aces in a row.
“She was just killing it,” the coach said. “She did really, really well.”
Brydon took it upon herself to make the individual changes to her game in order to better help her team, Beard-Hanrahan said.
“You could see it,” she said. “There’s just something in her – she just lit a fire in that back row and just refused to let Ann Richards score a point on her. She did fantastic.”
The Lady Mustangs have spent a lot of time on the road. They have had four home dates, including hosting their Hill Country Takeover tournament. They’ve traveled for the rest of the matches.
“We didn’t have the best luck on the road,” Beard-Hanrahan said. “When we traveled to Seguin for the tournament, I think that mistakes started mounting against my girls, and it started just getting in their heads. And something just dug deep inside of Taylor. I’m like ‘one set at a time is all we need.’ And as soon as she started feeling it, I could just tell she was a girl that I couldn’t take off the court.”
She pointed out the Lady Mustangs showed her the fight that propelled them into the playoffs with a three-matching winning streak that turned into two playoff victories in 2025.
“It made me really excited,” the coach said. “I think that they felt that and it was really exciting to see that. We were down in a hole at the beginning. But this is just what happens when you never give up and you fight with everything you have and you can say to yourself, ‘I can leave this court feeling good because I played the hardest match I could.’ And that’s what happened. So yeah, I’m excited that it happened for us against Ann Richards.”
Marble Falls will go to Wimberley Tuesday, Sept. 8, and Kerrville Tivy Friday, Sept. 11, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6 p.m.
CAPTION: Senior setter Hannah Welch (3) celebrates a quick set to senior middle blocker Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa (left), who slammed it down for a point during the win against San Marcos.
