Freshman A wins campus tournament, makes history
Their opponents might call the McCallum freshman A team rude hosts, but their fans would call them something else: champions.
The Knight Freshman Tournament is an annual tournament that draws freshman teams from all over central Texas. The McCallum volleyball program has hosted the tournament since 2022 with group-play games on Thursday and the knockout round taking place on Saturday.
Well this year, the Knight freshman A team didn’t just host the Knight Freshman Tournament on Thursday Sept. 5 and Saturday Sept. 7. They won it.
Program head coach Amy Brodbeck was thrilled about the win.
“This is the first time our team won the championship or even made the championship game,” Brodbeck said. “I am so proud of these girls.”
The freshman A team began its ascent to an eventual tournament championship by passing a noon Thursday test on Sept. 5 against Pflugerville Connally in the large gym.
The visiting Cougars took an early lead in the first set, but the host Knights regrouped and won the set decisively, 25-17. In the second set, the Cougars got an even better start building an 11-point lead that made it appear that the game was going to go to a tiebreaker set.
“We were playing bad at the start [of the second set], and then we got better,” right-side hitter Grace Miller told MacJ.
Miller said that one factor in the comeback was the team’s ability to serve well down the stretch. She also said that throughout the tournament the team had to remind itself to have fun, which got them in the mindset to succeed.
“Throughout the tournament, for our team, sometimes it was a little bit rough because if we would [start losing], we would get annoyed with each other,” she said. “But other than that, [the tournament] was really good because we were all having a great time. There’s just a lot of games and a lot sitting around and just hanging out.”
The win and the comeback that led to it foreshadowed how the team would fare in Saturday’s knockout round. After beating Manor Tech Thursday afternoon to earn a first-round bye, the Knights beat St. Andrew’s in three sets in the quarterfinals.
The Knights took the first set 25-19, lost the second 25-15, and prevailed in the tiebreaker 15-11.
Although the Knights won the first set, the Highlanders took an early lead in the second set. Despite McCallum’s efforts to regain the lead, the team lost the second set 25-15. The Knights rebounded by winning the tiebreaker set 15-11 to claim the game, 2-1.
Sylvia Hurtado said the Knights were unready at first for the improved skill level of St. Andrews, having played the opposing school already this season.
“The second time we played them, they had improved a lot,” she said. “We were a little unprepared for their skill level, but we still won.”
After losing the second set, the team was able to make improvements and work together to win the third and final set by adjusting their lineup.
“They were just a really strong team, but honestly we were able to pull together,” Hurtado said. “We all had to cover each other and work our positions, but I think we were able to do it really well. We tried a different lineup, and we just made sure that we talked about our mistakes.”
Winning against St. Andrews helped the Knights gain momentum as they progressed through the tournament.
“I think [the St. Andrew’s win] really helped our confidence,” Hurtado said. “It made us think that we were good enough to maybe even win the tournament, which we did.”
The path to doing so started in the semifinal with a clinical beatdown of district rival LASA to reach the final, where the team faced 6A Bowie in the championship.
That game required the Knights to dig even deeper to find the will to come back.
“Not gonna lie, I didn’t really expect us to win because … Bowie, that’s like, a really good team,” Miller said. “When we [lost] the first set of the Bowie game, we lost by a lot.”
But rather than fold up their tent and be satisfied with making the final, the Knights rallied to win the second set and the tiebreaker to emerge victorious in their own tournament.
“We were the comeback kids,” Coach Cat O’Neal said of her squad. “Every point was earned.”
That was especially true of the tiebreaker set, which O’Neal described as “the longest 15 points of my life.”
The freshman B team was also in action at the tournament playing two early games on Thursday before a first-round exit in the knockout round on Saturday.
The B team opened tournament play bright and early Thursday morning with a 25-10, 25-12 loss to the San Marcos B squad.
O’Neal, who coached her two freshman teams through a gauntlet of nine games in three days, said that she was proud of her teams’ play win or lose.
“Fresh B lost, but it was the best I’ve seen them play,” O’Neal said. “They played hard. Lots of hustle and getting better every time they play. B is all heart.”
While the team made lots of encouraging plays to earn points throughout the early morning match against the Rattlers, the most inspiring moment came after the game when O’Neal challenged the team to offer shout outs to players who made positive plays during the game.
She said they had to offer at least three, and the members of the team doubled that total before heading off the rest of fifth period. One memorable play that the coach and players celebrated was middle blocker Harriet Zettner’s back-to-the-net back set that Coach O’Neal enthusiastically reenacted after the game.
In its second Thursday morning game, the freshman B lost to Akins B team in straight sets.
Starting middle blocker Vera Petrowsky said that the team struggled in the game for two reasons: one, they were down from losing their first game of the tournament and two, they underestimated their opponents because they took a set of Akins on Aug. 20 and led in the second set before the game had to be canceled due to a water shutoff on campus.
In the rematch, the Eagles competed well, as did the Knights.
“They were one of the best teams in the tournament, but I thought we played well against them.”
On Saturday morning, the B team lost to Crockett 2-0 in its round of 16. Although McCallum rallied in the second set, Crockett prevailed in straight sets, 25-14, 25-15.
One particular struggle for the Knights as a team was serving and receiving, as freshman Alex Giulietti noted.
“We just need to work on servicing,” Giulietti said.
Left outside hitter Bella Angulo feels that McCallum could also improve on reaching balls faster.
“The game went well, but we were letting a lot of easy balls drop,” Angulo said, “and that was ridiculous, especially because we had good passes.”
Despite the areas for possible improvement, the game held many positives for Angulo.
“I feel like I did well at serving and digging balls,” Angulo said, “and I feel like our team did really well with communication.”
Communication wasn’t the only area where McCallum succeeded. According to right side hitter Jessy Veaton, the Knights showed grit from the moment they stepped onto the court to the final whistle.
“We all played really well,” Veaton said. “We all tried our hardest, we all hustled. There are a few things that we can work on that we can do during practice, and we’ll definitely come back from this.”
After its tournament victory, the freshman A squad did not rest on its championship laurels. Instead, these Knights played up in the Knight JV Tournament on Sept. 12 and Sept. 14.
Against JV competition, the Knights qualified Thursday for the silver bracket tournament. The A team first took on Crockett’s junior varsity team, beating them in three sets, winning the first 25-18, losing the second 25-16, and winning the third and final set 15-4.
For setter Edie Davidson, the team’s performance, including her own, was rocky throughout the game which stemmed from their lack of communication and the willingness to go for the ball.
However, she acknowledged that these things got better as the game progressed.
“We were learning to call it more even though it started off as a bad thing,” Davidson said. “Throughout the game, just going for the ball got better too. I think we’ll do that better in the next game.”
In its second game of group play in the Knight JV Tournament, the freshman A team—playing under the moniker Mac FLEX—squared off against the Bowie JV squad. Playing up against a JV unit, the Knights lost in straight sets, 25-12, 25-10.
Outside hitter Lucy Tepera said that while the Knights may have lost the game, they competed hard against an older, higher level 6A team.
“I think we played well even though we lost, especially against a higher level team,” Tepera said. “I think we fought through it and finished out the game OK. I think playing Bowie’s JV team helps prepare us for harder teams we might play in district.”
Throughout the first set of the game, the Knights held their own on offense and on defense, but Bowie’s strong service game proved difficult to handle.
“I think we did good on our saves and hitting, but I think we need to improve on serve-receive, which is basically when they serve and we pass it.” Tepera said.
In Saturday’s knockout round, the freshman A team defeated the Akins JV team in the silver semifinals 2-1 before falling to a flex team from Bowie High School, 2-0 in the final.
In the semifinal against Akins’ JV team, the freshman Knights lost the first set 25-22 before rallying to win the second and third sets 25-22 and 15-11.
Setter and outside hitter Margaret Thompson was happy with the team’s performance.
“We played really well,” Thompson said. “We had some really great digs and great saves.”
Thompson says spirits were high after winning the semifinal and heading into finals against Bowie.
“We were feeling great,” Thompson said. “I mean we won so we were feeling pretty good.” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, the team was excited and confident but also nervous to play in the final game and potentially win the silver championship.
In the silver bracket championship game, the freshman A team faced a flex team from Bowie. The Knights lost the first set 25-16 and the second set 25-11.
Despite not winning their bracket, Thompson considered the team’s result to be a great achievement because they played against teams that were older and at a higher level than them.
The JV team was on a parallel course at the same tournament except that the JV Knights qualified for the gold bracket after winning its two group games on the morning the afternoon of Thursday Sept. 12.
Bright and early at 9 a.m. Thursday, the JV volleyball team cruised past Manor New Tech in straight sets, 25-16, 25-18.
Sophomore Annabel Johnson said that she and her teammates had no expectations before the game, as this was a team they had never played before.
“We were trying new things, and still working on connections,” she said. “It was a really good game to get everything worked out, and it helped us for our next game.”
Because they had a comfortable lead throughout the game, the team took the opportunity to experiment against live competition.
“We ran new plays and tried new rotations,” Johnson said.
The game also served as a tuneup for the team’s noon game against Waco.
“Playing that game helped us get warmed up for the rest of the day, and helped us work out any communication problems.”
The JV beat Waco University High School 2-0, winning the first set 25-14 and finishing the game with a second set 25-15.
Sophomore captain Elizabeth Peables said having intense plays throughout the game brought the team together.
“The highlight was having those plays that went on for a long time, but we would win the point,” Peables said, “so it felt like we all bonded together as a team in those moments.”
On a more personal note, Peables said becoming captain this year has come with new expectations.
“It’s definitely more of a responsibility,” Peables said. “I’m talking a lot more than I’m used to, so I’m stepping out of my comfort zone.”
Peables said the team has had a few hiccups but is starting to settle into its groove.
“We’ve had a few players out due to injuries and other things, so we’re still finding our spot,” Peables said. “But this week we’ve done really well.”
Peables said the game against Manor Tech and the overall tournament was a success for the team. The JV Knights reached the gold bracket final before losing to 6A Bowie.
“Overall, I got closer with my teammates and won, so that’s good,” Peables said.
With the two Thursday victories, the JV earned a spot in the gold bracket semifinals on Saturday morning where they faced a familiar foe: the Raptors of LASA. The Knights narrowly lost the first set, 27-25, before winning the final two sets, 25-23 and 15-12.
Johnson thinks that the team had a successful tournament despite not winning the championship.
“I think the tournament went really well,” Johnson said. “The highlight of the tournament was winning against LASA in three sets.”
All of the sets the Knights played in were very close, and there were many competitive rallies.
“A good play we had was when we had a really long rally,” Johnson said. “No one was really able to win the point but then Genevieve [Chick] went up and got a huge block.”
The scenario was eerily similar to the freshman A team’s path to victory in the Knight Freshman Tournament the week before, but unfortunately for the host team, this time they had no answer for 6A Bowie in the final. Losing in straight sets, the JV had to settle for second place.
