San Marcos clinches playoff berth with sweep over Del Valle

After taking the season series against Del Valle with a 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-17, 25-6) on Tuesday, San Marcos (10-7, 8-4 district) clinched its first playoff berth since 2017 under first-year head coach Jared Te’o. 

The senior Rattlers haven’t been this far in their careers and it’s starting to dawn on them that this year is one they will cherish for life.

”I mean as a senior, like, losing so badly the last two years on varsity, it’s really taken a toll on us and what we’re doing this year, especially for my senior year is so special and it’s like so surreal, and I love it,” middle blocker Samantha Booth said.

Sophomore setter Ruby Gordon was assisting her outside hitters all night for San Marcos. After four points, Gordon already had three assists going to senior and junior outside hitters Layla Diaz and Maggie Walsh. Gordon spread the wealth to junior middle blocker Emery Jones, making the score 16-7. A few plays later, instead of stealing another assist, Gordon tricked the defense with a soft, one-handed tip that fell in the middle of the defense. Del Valle (0-12, 0-12 District 26-6A) coughed up service error cost the team the first set, 25-14.

Gordon is working on not being as predictable with her play and she’s now found something new to add to her arsenal.

”There’s been multiple times in games where I’ve gotten net calls or doubles because I don’t think smartly,” Gordon said. And so recently in practice Coach (Te’o) has been putting up random balls and be like, ‘Tip it, Ruby,’ getting me in the moment and it’s really helpful. So now I feel more confident doing it on the court.”

In the middle set, Booth scored consecutive kills and then used a two-handed push of the ball to give San Marcos a 10-3 advantage. Both teams struggled serving with five service errors in a row between the two. The hosts broke the run at 23-15. Diaz ended the set by putting the ball through the ground with a kill to claim the 25-17 win.

Even though the team had a mini struggle serving, overall it was a good day for the Lady Rattlers from behind the end line. Five players recorded an ace. 

”I think it’s a lot about momentum. So we usually — if you look at our ace-to-error ratio, it’s about the same, but we tend to have errors on important points,” Te’o said. “So that’s why I’m trying to get them to gauge the flow of the match and kind of increase their volleyball IQ.

”I think the serving was better today and then last week as well. (Against) Lake Travis, I think we served really well too. So it’s getting better. It’s good to see it now.”

Knowing they were one set away from ending the playoff drought, the Lady Rattlers turned up the intensity, especially in the middle of the court. Booth and Walsh both blocked Del Valle’s attack, capping off a 7-0 run by the hosts. Jones made her presence felt with a spike down the middle, putting her team up 15-4. San Marcos added two more blocks at the net including another combination from Booth and Walsh that made it 23-6. Del Valle would fail to score again in the set, giving San Marcos the 25-6 set win and 3-0 sweep. Te’o’s preseason goal of making the playoffs was achieved.

The season isn’t over just yet as the team still has a weekend series against Austin Westlake (9-3, 6-2) Friday and Saturday, with one game at home and one on the road. Games start at 6:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively. If San Marcos wins both, it’ll finish third in District 26-6A. 

”I think we’re peaking at the end, which is what we want to do. And it’s really good for us to kind of — we didn’t plan to get hit with COVID or for Westlake to get hit with COVID, but to play them at the end, they’ll be a playoff team most likely, and right before playoffs is kind of a perfect warm up,” Te’o said. “I like what we’re doing. I like our team unity, we’re settled into our roles, so I’m super excited.”