San Marcos sets new wins record, clinches playoff berth in sweep of Hays

BUDA — Jared Te’o said he hadn’t slept in a week heading into Friday’s play-in match between San Marcos and Buda Hays.

The Lady Rattlers and Lady Hawks knew each other well, having played each other three times earlier in the regular season. The purple and white came away with victories in the first two meetings but lost the most recent matchup in Buda on Oct. 8, 3-1.

The San Marcos head coach couldn’t risk being unprepared with the playoffs on the line.

“I know, (Hays head coach Ashley Davis is) a great coach,” Te’o said. “And they're a great team and they've been peaking at the end (of the season). And we've kind of had our ups and downs and our bumps and bruises. So I wanted to make sure I wasn't outworked, as far as scouting.”

Te’o’s long nights during the week led to a short one on Friday. The Lady Rattlers swept the Lady Hawks at Buda Johnson High School, 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-11), clinching District 26-6A’s final postseason berth and winning their 33rd overall match this season, setting a new record for the program.

“I feel like all of our hard work and like, when we stayed late for practice, just kind of worked out in the end,” junior libero Callissa Castro said. “Like all of us doing the little things, listening to Coach Te'o, it finally showed everyone what we're capable of.”

Te’o made a big adjustment for the match, switching his team back to a 5-1 rotation. San Marcos had run a 6-2 for most of its second district cycle. Te’o thought, statistically, it should’ve given his side an advantage. But the team ended up losing more sets than it did in its first go-around in district play, so he chose to go back to what originally worked against.

The head coach also found an edge in having his players serve short. The Lady Rattlers earned seven aces on the night and kept Hays (14-31, 7-7 district) out of system for most of the match.

“(It was) easily the cleanest we've played all year,” Te’o said. “And the intangible things that we've asked them to do all season, we did those the best … (like) energy, giving to your teammates, adjusting to things that are not perfect and making the most out of kind of broken plays. So I think that's the piece. And then trying to follow what I'm asking them to do. So it's not about doing things perfectly, it's just about trying to take away what we talked about in the scouting report.”

Senior outside hitter Maggie Walsh posted a double-double with 10 kills, 13 digs and three blocks. Fellow senior outside hitter Joselyn Roberson added 10 kills and eight digs. Castro finished the match with 11 digs and junior setter Ruby Gordon led the team with 31 assists.

San Marcos (33-12, 7-7) is now slated to face District 25-6A champion Austin Vandegrift (35-9, 13-1) on the road Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. It’s the same place the Lady Rattlers were at the end of 2020’s regular season.

The purple and white won last year’s playoff match 3-1 on Nov. 20, 2020. To pull off the upset again, San Marcos will need to play how it did Friday night.

“I'm really excited, just because it's really lucky to go to playoffs as a freshman,” outside hitter Brinkley Reeves said. “So I just think we will defeat them in the first round like we did last year no matter (what).”