Pretend for a moment that the solar classroom on Sunshine Drive is actually a time machine and that on one gorgeous sunny late October day, you stumble into that time machine that looks like a harmless solar classroom and walk out of it to find you no are longer in 2022 but rather 1994. As you walk the halls of this earlier version of McCallum, you recognize a few teachers although they look a bit younger to you. Nicole Sorto teaches biology, Nancy Kudela (now Searle) sponsors the Blue Brigade and coaches girls soccer, and Carol Nelson directs the McCallum band. 

But another current member of the faculty also roams these same halls. We know her today as college and career counselor Camille Nix, but back in 1994, she was a junior—Camille Cox— who was one of nine players on one of the most storied teams in McCallum sports history: the 1994 varsity volleyball team.

Like the 2022 edition, the 1994 edition ran the table in district play, going undefeated en route to a district title. But those Knights didn’t stop there. They dashed through the 4A playoffs … winning five playoff games to become the first McCallum team ever to reach a state final before ending the season as the No. 2 4A team in the state.

When asked to recall that championship season, Nix did not speak of playoff victories or their brush with a state title but rather her fond memories of the moments that led up to it.

“What I remember most is the community support,” Nix said recently.

She recalled the volleyball parents plastering the hallways with posters and students wearing game-day stickers to show their support for the team. On those game days, the gym was packed with students, teachers and community members, even families that did not have students at the school. 

“The crowds were electric,” she said. “It was so much fun!”

Rather than a liability, Nix said the team’s small roster was actually an asset. 

“My teammates and I were so close and cohesive. Because we were such a small team, we really grew to understand each other and our strengths and weaknesses. We knew how to encourage each other and lift one another up.”

The team was led by two outstanding seniors: district player of the year Michelle Sanchez and first team All-District selection Kim Kennemer. The rest of the team consisted of two juniors, one sophomore and a freshman.

“We weren’t the tallest on the court,” Nix remembered. “We weren’t ever ranked to be the best or go as far as we did. We had heart. We loved each other and we fought to the end, always.”

Nix said the lessons she learned playing Mac volleyball went far beyond the court.

“From that experience, I carry so much,” she said. “Hard work pays off. … I take that with me with the things I do and involve myself in, whether it be with my family, with my career or with my interests. I don’t do anything partially and I try to give all the things that I do 100%. I hope that my children and my students see that in me.”

Not only that effort and all-in enthusiasm but if you look closely, you might even see the never-say-die optimism that believes … that knows … that victory is within reach.

The 2022 Knights share many of those traits: effort, energy, enthusiasm. They hope to enjoy some of that same playoff success when they open the 5A state playoffs on Tuesday evening at Pflugerville.