They say “success breeds success” and that “iron sharpens iron.”
Proof of the veracity of those old sayings can be seen in Industrial’s gym as the volleyball season gets under way.
Cobra Head Coach Tara Dunn’s varsity finished last season with a four-set loss to Stockdale in the Class 3A Div. II regional finals, setting their season record at 35-17. Highlights included a 122 run in District 25-3A to finish runner-up to Columbus and top four finishes in the highest brackets of the three pre-district tournaments they played, where most of the teams they faced were Class 4A and 5A or top 2A and 3A schools.
“We’re definitely young,” Dunn said. “We graduated six seniors who all touched the floor at some point in almost every single game.”
Two of the six seniors graduated from that team are now in college athletics – Cecelia Jalufka is playing beach volleyball for East Texas Baptist University and Desiree Alaniz is powerlifting at Missouri Valley.
But the returning players and newcomers are challenging themselves to build upon last season’s success.
Participation in summer volleyball and offseason workouts has led to lots of competition for playing time, Dunn said, noting that the Cobras will be playing new faces at middle, setter, libero and defensive specialist.
“We’ve got some young girls who are being very competitive and pushing the returners,” Dunn said. “I was telling them the other day that this is the first time in my entire career that nobody is safe. You always say that to kids but the majority of the time they can tell when their job is safe, and they don’t necessarily have to give it everything they have every single day. Right now, nobody’s safe.
“It’s a good problem to have, but we’ve got too many girls that can hit the ball right now, too many girls that can set, and too many girls that can pass, at a very competitive level. At some point throughout the season, we’re going to have somebody who could start on pretty much anybody else’s varsity who’s going to be sitting the bench for us. It’s exciting as a coach, but it can be frustrating for the girls and so we’re trying to figure out the balance of that.”
Senior right side hitter Kaylee Honc said she’s looking forward to the benefits of playing the rugged tournaments.
“I feel like it helps a lot having a bunch of team time together because we get to go and stay with each other, so it’s really good for team bonding,” Honc said. “We get to be with each other a lot, and we get to run a lot of different lineups, so it really helps us with finding where we go, what place we’re going to be in in different positions.”
Junior Ivy Sanchez, who moved up from the JV to battle for the starting varsity setter position, said she had been working hard all summer to prepare for the season’s challenges. Communicating on the floor as lineups shuffle during tournament play will be critical, she said.
“I think you just have to think very fast and be quick,” Sanchez said. “I think if you’re thrown in, you either sink or swim. So I feel like it really just brings out your natural, like movement on the core and just your thought process with your teammates and make sure you’re communicating throughout the whole thing.”
District 25-3A play begins Sept. 9, but until then the Cobras have plenty of experienced teams on the schedule, including Beeville, Cuero, Calhoun, and Goliad, as well as the fields at the Cuero, Bastrop, and Seguin varsity tournaments.
“Our tournaments are going to be great,” Dunn said. “Last year we got second at Bastrop and we competed very well against some very highlevel teams. I think we’re playing at such a high level right now (that) we’re getting frustrated because our defense is doing so good that it’s hard to put a ball away, but I think when we step on the floor against some other teams I think it’s going to be eye-opening for our girls to see how good we actually are.”
