To say the inaugural season of Weatherford College volleyball was a success would be akin to saying a Great White is a big shark.
While many programs spend their first year or more piecing things together and finding a successful formula, coach Kailee May and her Coyotes bypassed the "taking their time" part.
In their first season, the WC volleyball team posted a 21-8 record, won the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Association championship and advanced to regional competition. May was, of course, named the conference Coach of the Year, while four freshmen and a sophomore earned all-conference accolades.
Freshman Abby Folsom from Denton was named Setter of the Year and ranked seventh nationally with 10.36 assists per set. Freshman outside hitter Meagan Ledbetter (Azle) was the Newcomer of the Year (3.2 digs and 2.82 kills per set), while freshman middle blocker Selanny Puente (Dominican Republic) was a first-team all-conference pick after ranking 13th nationally in hitting percentage at .336.
Also, freshman Brooke McHale (Plano) and sophomore Isabela Moore were named second-team all-league.
All except for Moore are returning this season.
"There have definitely been jokes circulating that maybe we set the bar too high for year one, but honestly, I want the bar there," May said. "And I want my athletes to know that the standard we've set is to win.
"The athletes that are returning are hungry for more after last season, and the new athletes to the program need to know that we are serious about winning. As scary as it is walking into year two feeling like the bar is out of reach, I know that's where it needs to be in order for us to perform our best."
May said the immediate success was the result of a few different factors, but the biggest reason being she recruited athletes who were simply competitive and didn't want to wait to win.
"Some of them are 'flipping tables playing Monopoly' competitive. As it turns out, when you put competitive athletes in a situation where they are constantly underestimated, they work even harder and compete even harder to prove everyone else wrong," May said. "Last season, I pushed the fact that no one was going to take us seriously because we were a new program. I told them we need to make people take us seriously, and they really took that to heart.
"Ultimately, the work the players put into practice every day to make sure everyone knew who Weatherford College was is what made us successful."
Ten of the program's original 16 freshmen are returning. Along with losing sophomore Isabela Moore, another big loss was libero Taylor Borden, who transferred to Texas A&M-Commerce.
"I'm extremely proud of her, but obviously sad to lose her as well," May said, noting, "We also gained a transfer from Oklahoma Christian, Peighton Serda (Saginaw), who will add a ton of power and depth to our roster. We have 11 players returning with a lot of experience."
The list of returning sophomores also includes outside hitter Madi Gray (Haslet), middle blocker/right side hitter Dru Witherspoon (Iowa Park), middle blocker Aislyn Cox (Coleman), outside hitter Lexie Pruitt (Haslet), defensive specialist/libero Abby Benitez (Snyder) and outside hitter Stella Scott (Eugene, Oregon).
Incoming freshmen who have May excited include right-side hitter Emerson Reedy (Peaster), defensive specialist/libero Marley Gerik (West), outsider hitter Abby Hellman (Lindsay), outside hitter Sara Maksimovic (Serbia), setter Lorena Gomez (Haslet) and right side hitter Evelyn Benson (Weatherford).
"I am really excited about this class because there is a wide range of talent between the six of them—a really broad skill set," May said. "The freshmen will all be immediately competitive in their own right, and I'm excited to see exactly how everyone fits in."
As part of the preparation for the encore performance, the Coyotes faced some challenging spring matches, along with continuing to work out and play during the summer.
"We are extremely lucky to be in the DFW Metroplex where we are within a reasonable distance of many competitive volleyball programs that we wouldn't normally play in the fall," May said.
WC played in a couple of tournaments that were competitive but were also able to host Dallas Baptist and UT Arlington. DBU is in the top tier of NCAA Division II and UTA competes at a high DI level, finishing near the top of their conference in the fall.
"The team went into both matches with a very positive attitude, and we were competitive with both—we took sets off of both teams. It was a lot of fun to see the team realize the level of volleyball they are capable of," May said.
She is expecting conference play to be even more competitive in 2023.
"There were some coaching changes at a few schools with new coaching philosophies, so it will be interesting to see how those changes influence those programs and the conference as a whole," she said. "Hill and NCTC (North Central Texas College) seem to have the most history as far as winning the conference and the conference tournament goes, so I expect those matches to be competitive.
"From what I've heard and experienced, NMMI (New Mexico Military Institute) and NMJC (New Mexico Junior College) have most recently been leading the pack on the west side of Region V."
NMMI won a national championship in 2021.
"I think as a whole, between the way the team competed in the spring and adding seven great athletes to the roster, we should be competing at an even higher level than we were last year," May said. "I'm excited to watch it unfold and can't wait to see our fans back in the gym!"
The 2023 season opens with a home tournament on August 18 and 19 at the Betty Jo Graber Athletic Center. For a complete schedule, go to wcathletics.com.