Replacing the top setter in the district and a first team All-District hitter leaves a challenge for most programs.
Replacing a successful coach at the same time ups the ante.
But the Edna Cowgirls are taking it in stride and embracing learning new positions in a new system under veteran head coach Jenna Buzek.
Buzek began her career at Industrial, coaching there for five years before moving to Calhoun for the past six seasons. She replaced Rachel Collins as head coach at Edna.
“I’ve always liked the area, and I’ve always lived in the area,” Buzek said. “Driving an hour to Port Lavaca was a lot.”
Her long friendship with Edna High School Girls Coordinator Jill Koop played a role, too.
“She’s been trying to get me over here for a very long time,” Buzek said. “She was like, ‘we’ve got a very good group of kids, and you need to make the move.’ So it was a whole bunch of factors. I’ve always known I wanted to come here, so the timing was right this year.”
The cupboard is not bare, either, she said, noting a large senior class.
“The girls are very, very coachable,” Buzek said. “They’re very athletic and they have the passion, the desire. They always want to get better.
“They know how to play volleyball. It’s just kind of fixing the little things and getting together. I know they lost some big players last year. They’re kind of having to adjust to other girls stepping into that role, so that’s what we’re trying to figure out right now, who’s going to step up into those positions that left.”
Most of the group played summer league volleyball, which helped with the transition, Buzek said.
“It’s not like we just started,” she said. “We’ve been going this summer.”
While Buzek’s background as a player was more defense-oriented, she’s been more focused on getting positions filled and up to speed.
“I played all the way around, but I love defense,” she said. “That’s where we have the most returning so I’m kind of leaving them be. We’re trying to figure out the hitting positions. I’ve moved kids differently from what they played last year, (and) I’ve got a couple new ones, so I feel like the focus right now is more offense-oriented, but our defense, they’re the ones that are stable. They’ve come back, they know what they’re doing.”
Senior libero Marlee Holmes said she could see improvement even after the first few practices in the team’s defense and its communication on the floor, something that senior Julianna Koch and junior left front/middle back Avery Garcia had also noticed.
“I feel like we’re a lot closer this year,” Koch, a middle back, said.
Defense could become the team’s calling card this year, the three agreed.
“It’s because we’re older,” Holmes said. “We have more experience.”
The pre-district slate will offer plenty of tests against playoff teams from last season, including five playoff teams and one ranked in the TGCA preseason poll in the Columbus Tournament alone. The Cowgirls also will play in the Goliad and Schulenburg Tournaments and will play Victoria East, Shiner, Gonzalez and Rockport before district opens on Sept. 9. Shiner reached the Class 2A Div. II state semifinals last year and is ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll, while Victoria East lost in the Class 5A Div. I area round, and Gonzalez and Rockport lost in the Class 4A Div. II bi-district round.
Last season, the Cowgirls finished second in the Goliad Tournament’s silver bracket and third in the Columbus Tournament’s silver bracket. Edna finished 24-21 overall and 9-5 in District 253A. They advanced to the Class 3A, Div. II bi-district round.
“Our scrimmages are tough, and our tournaments are tough,” Buzek said. “We were in some summer tournaments with some tough teams, and I told them, you’re never going to get better playing people that aren’t going to push you, so that’s what pre-district is for.
“You take a couple of losses, but you learn from it, so that’s kind of the focus of this preseason, not to get down in those situations but to focus on us. If we’re doing us right, then there’s positives in everything.” 9 July 2025
