The last spike has bounced in Kingsville this season
The fall 2024 semester is coming to a close and with that comes an end to regular season play this Javelina volleyball season, which saw its last serve fly over the net on Saturday, Nov. 16.
This season saw the likes of over six athletes score 100 points and rank in the top four in in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) in blocks.
Senior Ayanna Jackson was one of the many bright spots on the team. She led the Javelinas in almost every single offensive category and had the team lead in blocks.
“It’s exciting and I’m happy that I was able to lead my team in games. It’s really good to know that we have enough skills behind that, like the passing and setting to let me even do such a thing, so that’s really good,” Jackson said.
With a dominant senior season on offense came a high scoring approach that Jackson embraced which saw success not only on offense but as a leader for her teammates.
“It gave me a better voice to kind of help my teammates out. We’re not perfect. I don’t think I am a perfect leader. When I did have a voice, it just made it kind of louder knowing they already look up to me,” she said.
The Javelinas will be graduating seniors Jackson, Samantha Hensley and Meghan Stiefer, but Head Coach Tanya Allen-Gonzalez has a team full of young promising talent.
With a program that is constantly upgrading, Allen-Gonzalez has now seen another winning season adding to her 10 total winning seasons, which is the longest stretch in program history.
“The athletes are the ones that do it. I mean, we do the best we can to teach them and help them grow. But I mean, obviously the majority of the credit goes to them.,” Allen-Gonzalez said.
The young talent played prominent on the team this year which saw junior Rylan Pollard finish second in points scored this year.
“I think it sets me up good to hopefully have another good season next year. Hopefully that means I can hold other people accountable too, and they can start being better, too,” Pollard said.
Having a successful junior season could lead to a prominent role in Pollard’s senior year.
“I hope it sets me up to be a leader. I want to be one of the people that the younger people on our team can look up to and aspire to be,” Pollard said.
The Javelinas will have one more set to cap off a successful season from Nov. 21 to 23 at the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Tournament.