Head Coach Allen-Gonzalez has historic season
Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s (TAMUK) Javelina volleyball team has bumped and set itself up as a contender in the Lone Star Conference, as well as serving up some historic feats for Head Coach Tanya Allen-Gonzalez.
For 11 years in a row, the Javelinas have had themselves a winning season, and this year is no different pushing that streak to 12 years.
But this year is different for Allen-Gonzalez who earned her 250th win with the Javelinas this year, with more to come.
“When I took over the job in 2011, I set goals for myself. I always knew that TAMUK volleyball had the potential to be a consistently great program; but I also knew that getting there would take more than just my effort. I’ve had countless others contribute to the success of the program including assistants, administrators, and, of course, all the players,” Allen-Gonzalez said.
But her and the team’s success have not just been this historic year; Allen-Gonzalez has become the volleyball team’s most winningest coach of all time.
She has also pushed her all-time winning percentage with the Javelinas to just shy of .600.
“My goal has always been to help create a sustained winning culture for the volleyball program. We’ve spent years working to recruit talented kids that want to win the right way. We’ve worked to instill the values of the university as well as help those athletes grow both mentally and physically. It’s been a long process, but I am incredibly proud of the way the program has evolved,” Allen-Gonzalez said.
As of Thursday, Nov. 5, the Javelinas have earned themselves a 16-7 record and put them at seven in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) out of 18 other schools.
“It’s been a great season. We started real strong in the nonconference preseason games,” senior Elisa Carli said. “It’s hard when you have only four games left and everything’s on the line. We have two games this week and we have to go out and win and execute. But it’s been a great season, I think, for me as a senior. Just looking back in the past four years, too. I’m really thankful for all the people and coaches in the program. But yeah, we’ve just got to go and execute and try and do our best to make it to the conference center.”
This sets them up for possibly a deep run in the playoffs coming at the end of November in the LSC playoff tournament.
However, the message to the team stays the same to continue to be successful one game at a time.
“The message to the team is still one game at a time. We still have work to do to achieve that goal and we only want them to worry about the upcoming match and not look too far ahead. We still have a lot of work to do to achieve post season play and can’s just think that we are in the post season,” Assistant Volleyball Coach Gary Payne said.