KINGWOOD — The West Fork Gators took care of a lot of “firsts” in their inaugural varsity volleyball match Tuesday evening.
Playing on their home floor with some boisterous supporters in the bleachers, the New Caney ISD school in its second year of existence made history with a 24-26, 25-17, 25-17, 25-15 nondistrict win over visiting Navasota.
Amanda Nunez had the first dig, kill and ace for the Gators, while the roster of nine underclassmen all played exceptionally well.
Sophomore ZZ Nwanoneze, who played last year as a freshman when there were only freshmen in the building, was appreciative to be a part of history. She had the first block for a point in program history.
“It just feels so great,” Nwanoneze said. “This is going to go down in history as the first varsity volleyball game won. I just feel amazing because I get to do this with my best friends.”
For Tammy White, one of the earliest hires of the Gators athletic department (by way of Huffman-Hargrave) in the winter of 2022 as volleyball coach and assistant campus athletic coordinator, it was a great moment.
“It’s a long time coming,” White said. “Since we all got hired, we’ve just been working and working and working to get to this level. As scary as it may seem, sometimes you’re concerned on how our youngsters are going to react in these situations — for them to come out tonight never knowing what it looks like, acts like, feels like to compete in a match that goes four sets.”
With seven sophomores and two freshmen, West Fork slipped behind early 14-7.
“I feel like we’ve been into some tough situations already,” White said, referring to scrimmages the Gators played last week against schools of all sizes. “But we’ve got to get better at handling the bigger and faster everything. More experience. At the end of the day, I’m standing on the sideline. I’m going to cheer them on and help motivate them.”
West Fork tied the first set six times, but Navasota took the early advantage with the two-point win.
The Gators fell behind 11-5 in the second set before Kayli Heine handled the ball for nine straight points, including three aces, to take the lead.
West Fork fell behind only three more times the rest of the night.
“Our kids responded really well,” White said. “I was really proud of them. I’m happy for the program sweep tonight.”
Khloe Lilly had a big night serving and had several kills. Nwanoneze had several big blocks.
To defeat a fellow Class 4A program in Navasota — one that posted a 24-15 record last season and just missed the playoffs — was a good gauge.
“I think we’re jumping into varsity,” White said. “I’m ready to play it all. Our kids are seeing the first of every level and the difference in every level. They did it tonight, and that’s exciting.”
Nwanoneze wasn’t sure about playing varsity with only underclassmen this year. So far, so good.
“At first I was a little bit nervous because it was just going to be freshmen and sophomores,” she said. “But coach White just kept pushing us running and making us work and work. I felt like we just got a lot better and we connected as a team.”
White felt afterward that even with all the excitement, it might not hit the Gators until later what was accomplished in their first attempt at varsity volleyball.
“We try to tell them any time a situation occurs that it’s the first of this and the first of that,” White said. “They might not realize that until after they graduate. But we’re going to keep saying it. It’s the first of many things that are going to be coming.”
West Fork returns to action Thursday at a tournament in Fairfield. Navasota hosts its own tournament the same day.
