SAN ANTONIO — Jared Te’o used to joke that he would be a lifelong assistant.
If someone asked why, he’d come up with a list of excuses. He considered it his safe spot.
Te’o stepped outside his comfort zone when he took the job as San Marcos head volleyball coach. There were nerves going in, of course, “because, what if you don't do well?” There were times during the 2020 season he questioned whether he was the right person to take over the Lady Rattlers program and whether he could actually lift them out of the bottom of the district.
But as his first season came to an end Tuesday night in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-12) loss to San Antonio Reagan at the Blossom Athletics Center, Te’o proved his worries weren’t justified. In his first year as head coach, he led San Marcos to the second round of the playoffs, a place the team hadn’t been since 2001.
“I think what I learned most is that, you know, at any level, if you can inspire the kids, you can you can pull off some things people don't expect,” Te’o said. “So that's what happened this year. I mean, we don't have the most talented team. We definitely don't have the tallest team — by a lot — but they fight hard and they play as one and that's what's great.”
San Marcos was outmatched against Reagan. Te’o said his team expected Reagan’s best players to perform well, but when other players began heating up, San Marcos didn’t have much of an answer.
The loss marks the end of six Lady Rattlers’ high school careers — libero Julia Antu, middle blocker Samantha Booth, defensive specialists Riley Dow and Gabriella Medellin, outside hitter Layla Diaz and setter Robin Ramos.
“I'm disappointed but I'm proud of the kids. I kind of knew eventually we'd hit a wall. Mentally, I was hoping it would be, you know, the next round. But Reagan played a phenomenal match, their coach is a really good coach and her kids play together,” Te’o said. “But overall, a great season. I told the girls, ‘One match doesn't define your career,’ and hopefully this will keep them hungry to be back next year.”
Te’o said he hopes this season has established a base for his program. He wants to see major improvements from all his players in the offseason. There were a lot of mistakes he saw during the fall that there wasn’t always time to correct in practice. He plans to do so in the spring.
The head coach also wants to see his players get more involved in club teams to get more reps and good coaching year round so that San Marcos can make a habit of reaching the playoffs.
“Changing a program, it's a lot and I couldn't have done it without the support of the other coaches and our admin, my family and friends,” Te’o said. “But the girls are just incredible. The girls really bought in and I think on days where I was thinking things looked a little dire, they kind of reinvigorated my hopes. So it's all credit to them.”
San Marcos finished the 2020 season with an 11-10 overall record. After a promising postseason, the team is hopeful for an even brighter future.
“I always expect to make playoffs,” Te’o said. “I mean, now that the secret's out, I always expect to win rounds. But I always try to set the bar low to the public and then to my girls it's like, ‘The sky's the limit.’ So playoffs again next year, hopefully, and maybe we can take it a round further.”
