Walsh joins 1,000-1,000 club in San Marcos sweep

Reaching big accomplishments runs in Maggie Walsh’s family. 

Her dad, John, is San Marcos’ head football coach. Her brother, J.W., was a quarterback for Oklahoma State from 2011-15 and now coaches for the Cowboys. And Maggie, a senior outside hitter for the Lady Rattlers, added her own personal accolade to the Walsh legacy on Tuesday during San Marcos’ match against Austin McCallum inside the Snake Pit.

In the second set alone, Maggie recorded 11 kills, with the final being the most celebrated of her career. As San Marcos led 24-14, the senior had no idea she was close to what would be her 1,000th career kill. She actually wanted her setter, junior Ruby Gordon, to stop passing her the ball because her legs were shot after three straight attempts. On the last pass, she exploded off of the ground from the left side of the floor and did what Maggie does best: hit the ball so hard no one could dig it out. The point marked the end of a set and the entry of the senior to the 1,000 kill and 1,000 digs list. 

“Not many players do that. Or if they do, they only hit one milestone. So for her to have 1,300 digs and 1,000 kills — and we had only (21) games last year — is insane,” head coach Jared Te’o said of his senior’s accomplishment. “I don’t think she really realizes the gravity of it. Last year, for example, Lake Travis’ outside hitter hit (for) 1,000 in our gym, which is huge. But I mean, Maggie did that and has 1,000 digs, too, which is crazy. So I’m super proud of her.”

In the midst of the celebration, San Marcos still had a match to win. The hosts dominated at home with a clean sweep over the Lady Knights, 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, 25-5). The performance comes just after suffering consecutive losses in last weekend’s tournament at Round Rock Westwood. Since then, the team has bounced back with four straight wins. 

Tuesday night’s game was more of the same, with the Lady Rattlers (9-2) adding W’s to their win total. The first set was all San Marcos’ as the Lady Knights (2-3) struggled to get anything going offensively and handed over half of the hosts’ points with self-inflicted errors. The outside hitter had a quiet outing to start the game but once she got going, it was like an unstoppable freight train barreling at McCallum’s hands.

Five of San Marcos’ first 11 points came from the newest member of the 1,000-kill club, eventually leading to a 14-4 lead and timeout from the visitors. Walsh didn’t transfer to San Marcos last year with the mindset to get her own personal accolades. She wanted something bigger. 

“Once I moved here, I felt like I accelerated a lot on my hitting and I got more comfortable. Before, I would’ve never thought that I would get 1,000 kills if I was at my old school. But when I got here, I wasn’t really going for 1,000 kills. I was just going to help my team win games and everything,” Walsh said. “When I moved here I kind of thought I was gonna be more of an offensive player.”

Out of the break, senior and freshman outsider hitters Joselyn Roberson and Brinkley Reeves, respectively scored on the next three plays, doing all but winning the second set for their team. 

Fresh off of the celebration of their teammate, the Lady Rattlers secured its third-straight home victory of the season by closing out the final set, 25-5.

With Walsh now achieving personal goals, her mindset to win easily came along with it. Since joining the Lady Rattlers, Walsh and company have gone 20-12. The best 22-match stretch in the last four years. 

San Marcos senior outside hitter Maggie Walsh spikes the ball inside the Snake Pit during a 3-0 sweep over Austin McCallum on Tuesday. Walsh earned her 1,000th career kill in the second set. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo

San Marcos looks to advance its second four-game win streak of the season this weekend in the Bastrop Tournament with the first match against Corpus Christi London (1-3) at noon on Thursday. 

“We just have to keep going, honestly. We had our losses this weekend and I think that was better for us to get those losses out of the way, so now we know what they feel like now instead of in district (play),” Walsh said. “We came back as a team like after those and we still won against a good Liberty Hill team. I think it’s just like growing as a team and getting better every day, and becoming closer.  A lot of us are new on the team and we haven’t been playing together. The whole team is basically new. So I think we should come together as a team and get ready for this challenge.”