BRONTE, TX-- With the school’s sixth state championship locked up after their four-set win over Blum in 2017, the Bronte Lady Longhorns enter 2018 with a large group of returners and the same goal: win state.
For third-year head coach Carol Moore and the Lady ‘Horns, the feeling of being defending state champions still resonates with them even though the slate has been wiped clean.
“That is an amazing feeling, first of all, to have been state champions. You can’t replace that. You won’t ever be able to replace that,” Moore said. “But, we want to try to defend that and do that again. It’s going to take a lot of effort, hard work, dedication and commitment. These kids have that. I’m not worried about that in these girls.”
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Bronte, with their eight returning seniors and 11 returning lettermen, opened their state title defense with a home win over Colorado City on Tuesday.
Leading the way for the seniors is state championship MVP Kristen Stilley, who is regarded as one of many leaders on the Lady Longhorn’s squad. For Stilley, her sentiment echoes that of her coach in that she isn’t satisfied with just one state championship.
“I just feel ready to go back to Garland,” Stilley said, fighting back laughter. “Since we only graduated two seniors, we have the majority of our team back.”
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Stilley added that she feels that chemistry between her teammates will help Bronte get back to the state championship. But, as is the case with every champion, getting back there means walking the long road with a giant target painted square on Bronte’s back.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Stilley said. “If you make a mistake, it’s really magnified.”
To get down that road, it takes experience and hard work, something the Lady Longhorns know well.
Moore said she saw her team in “countless situations” where they were pushing each other by working out in some way, shape or form. “A lot of our girls played in that game, so they know what it’s like,” Moore added. “They want to have that feeling again.”
“We ran today and some of the girls who finished at the front went to help their teammates in the back,” Moore went on to say. “To me, that’s leadership that you can’t coach. That’s something innate in them.”
While Bronte may look the part of a state champion, it’s because of their confidence according to Moore. “There’s no better way to build confidence than in a game like that,” she said.
“If you’ve never been there, you don’t know what kind of confidence that would provide you,” Moore added. “It also adds a little pressure. I hope our confidence outweighs the pressure. That will go from match to match. All I can ask from them is to do their very best. That’s what I expect of them and that’s what they expect of themselves.”
Through the early part of the season, Moore says the Lady Longhorns are toiling with some players in new spots with the graduation of Alyssa Sallee and libero Sadie Delacerda, who’s now at Schreiner University.
“With some new people in some new places that we graduated, they will gain confidence,” Moore said.
A long list of heralded coaches have led Bronte prior to Moore. Names like current Central coach Connie Bozarth and current Wall coach Robynn Jones make up a small portion of the list of coaches who have graced the court of Bronte’s Varsity Gymnasium.
For Moore, the state championship was as much a product of their work by building the program than hers.
“This has only been my show for the last two years. I don’t even know if ‘my show’ is even the right words,” Moore said. “I come in on the coattails of some amazing volleyball coaches and programs and volleyball alumni who live, breath, walk and talk this sport. Being a state champion just adds to that.”
Next up for the Lady Longhorns will be a trip down US Highway 277 to face 3A foe Sonora next Tuesday.
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