SMHS VOLLEYBALL
A record that stood for 17 years came tumbling down this past week as senior outside hitter Brinkley Reeves became San Marcos’ all time career leader with over 1,500 kills, beating the previous record set by Jillian Wolpman.
A four-year varsity player, Reeves was appreciative of setting the record that stood for so long and thanked her teammates for helping her break the record.
“It means a lot, and it’s very rewarding after being here for four years,” Reeves said. “Obviously it’s a reward for me, but it’s a reward for the team. It just shows everyone is doing their job well enough to where we can put the ball up, get a good set and get a good swing. 1,500 kills does not come easy.”
Reeves’ journey to become the all-time leader in career kills was not the easiest as the now senior consistently played with older players from junior high and into high school.
“Starting in 7th grade, I was playing on the 8th grade team,” Reeves said. “It was scary, but it was fun. And the girls immediately accepted me and took me in as their teammate. From there, it started a leadership role [for me].”
It was a difficult transition for Reeves, who made the huge jump from playing middle school volleyball straight to varsity volleyball.
But by the end of the year, Reeves soon found herself playing a key role for the Rattlers, who won 32 games and made the playoffs.
“You can ask anybody on the team, I didn’t talk,” Reeves said. “It was hard, and the pace was a lot faster. I took a step back, because I felt that I was overstepping upperclassmen and what they were doing. But it took them encouraging me and telling me, ‘You have to talk’. By the end of the season, I start- ed hitting more balls and talking a lot more, but it was a big change from eighth grade volleyball to varsity volleyball.”
Helping Reeves in her transition into becoming a varsity volleyball player was former Rattler and now Texas State Bobcat volleyball player Maggie Walsh.
Walsh helped Reeves in her role as outside hitter and was a much needed support beam.
“It was really nice, and we played the same position,” Reeves said. “Originally I didn’t think I was going to play that much. Then, I was playing outside with her. It was nice being able to look at her and her telling me, ‘You got it.’ She helped me realize I couldn’t be in my feelings and moved on to the next point. She has always been there supporting me.”
Playing alongside Reeves was Grace Pactanac, who is now a senior, where the duo became the mainstay in Rattler volleyball with Reeves as the outside hitter and Pactanac the setter.
Despite the ups and downs, the duo has always stuck together.
“Then during my freshman year, I made varsity with Grace Pactanac, our setter, which was amazing,” Reeves said. “We have always had each other. Obviously, we were two freshmen on the team on varsity, so it was hard. We had struggled with our confidence and leadership on the court, but we had each other.”
The friendship between Reeves and Pactanac stretches far past the volleyball court as the duo played all four years on varsity.
“Me and Grace are best friends, and we do everything together,” Reeves said. “We played club volleyball together for two years, so we just built that bond. It’s nice to have a setter that I do get along with really well. Even if me or her are having a bad day, we tell each other to be positive and be a leader. It can get frustrating at times being a leader on the court, but we can go to each other. And we always have each other’s back.”
During her sophomore year, Reeves, along with Pactanac, found themselves as the leaders of the team despite being underclassmen.
In a role they have filled for the last three years, Reeves has seen the ups and downs of becoming a leader.
“After all of our seniors graduated, it was up to us, so we stepped into that leadership role,” Reeves said. “We obviously had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day, we all get along. It’s nice to have a senior year where everyone is getting along and supporting each other. I’m very blessed to have a team that supports me.”
During her junior season, Reeves eclipsed the 1,000 kill mark, a feat rarely seen in high school volleyball.
It wasn’t until looking at the volleyball school record board that Reeves and her teammates realized that the mark was reachable.
“I didn’t know what the record was,” Reeves said. “Last year in the district, I hit 1,000 kills, and we all celebrated it. One day we looked up at the board, and I looked at the kill record, which was at 1,347. I thought about it and thought, ‘Yeah I could get that’. We added the numbers up, and I realized that I was right at it. I had the idea that I could pass it. But I didn’t put too much focus on it because I didn’t want to stress about it.”
Reeves was able to smash the record, which the Rattlers celebrated before Tuesday’s game against Clemens.
With her name etched in school history, Reeves will always have something to remember her time as a Rattler.
“I never thought that my name was going to be on the board,” Reeves said. “The record is from a while ago, but it’s going to be a nice memory that I did that with my best friends on the court in my senior year. I know there are some ups and downs, but that is a positive thing I can look back on. No matter what, I had my team supporting me. At the end of the day, it was worth something to me.”
But records are not the only thing Reeves is concerned about as the Rattlers are looking to make their fifth straight playoff appearance.
While the district race will come down to the wire, Reeves is of the belief that the Rattlers will be in the postseason.
“I truly believe that we can win the district,” Reeves said. “It’s not going to be easy. Last Friday we played Johnson, and it was very similar to the Clemens game. We won the first and played great, but the last three sets it was a lack of energy and urgency on the court. We picked it up during the Clemens game, but it wasn’t enough.
“As a team, it is going to take every single person including myself,” she said. “We can’t let down in situations like that if we win the first set and let the other team build momentum.”
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
