The Austin High varsity Volleyball team is halfway through the season, and seems to be on track to have yet another successful year.
Their recent victories against Westlake and Lake Travis highlight the reason that this team is ranked 3rd in the state. Last year, the Austin High School Varsity Volleyball team went 39-7. Significant players who have made a big impact on the team are Riley Malloy, Camille Presley, Maggie McCarrol, and Jenna Tello.
Over the last 5 years, Austin High Varsity Volleyball has shown great improvement based on their stats and records, and has proven to be a strong contender in UIL.
This Friday, Austin High has an especially challenging match against Dripping Springs, which was ranked number 6 in UIL in 2024. Having played earlier this season, Austin High came through with a 3-1 victory over Dripping Springs, although both teams played very well. It will be interesting to see if next week brings the Maroons another win. Here are some questions that Coach Woods was asked.
What is your coaching philosophy, and how do you apply it to your team?
“Just trying to encourage the girls and bring the best out of them, push them beyond what they’re capable of doing, working on playing as a team throughout the entire match, and to stick together in the highs and the lows.”
How do you motivate your athletes to perform at their best?
“Trying to give them encouragement whenever they do something well to hopefully give them confidence when they’re not playing their best so they can think back to the times when they were called out positively for something that they did well, and I think we do a really good job at staying focused on the next point so we don’t want to get too excited, too high, or too low. Whether we win a point or lose a point, we’re ready for that very next point.”
How do you feel about this season so far?
“This season is going great! The girls are working hard [and] are improving at a rate that I am happy with. We have competed against some really tough competition this season. We went up to Dallas and played in the Allen tournament, and ended up just losing one match there, and got 3rd in the tournament, and then we’ve… already gone through the first round of districts so we’ve beat Dripping Springs, Westlake, and Lake Travis.” Currently we’re first.
