Dominant attack lifts Fulshear to crown
GARLAND — Four years ago, there wasn’t even a high school in Fulshear, let alone athletic teams.
Now there’s a state champion. The Fulshear volleyball team took the Class 4A title with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 victory over Hereford on Saturday at the Curtis Culwell Center.
It’s the first volleyball state championship for Lamar Consolidated ISD since Lamar Consolidated won a 3A title during the 1966-67 school year.
The domination showed itself most in the attack. The Chargers had 50 kills to 21 for Hereford, a five-time state champion in its first trip to state since 2008. Junior Ellie Echter and sophomore Alexis Dacosta each had 19 kills.
“It’s pretty cool to have such a dominant position,” Echter said. “Whenever we both rotate from the front row to the back row, we always have a dominant hitter. I think we just balance the team out so well. We’re able to feed off each other, and that helps a lot.”
They were set up by Dacosta’s sister, Brooklyn Dacosta, who had 43 assists.
Hereford struggled to keep the Chargers from scoring in the middle.
“They run a defense that leaves that middle of the floor open,” coach Sydney Gotcher said. “Their block is set to protect that part of the floor. Our outsides just did a great job of getting up over that block.”
Once Fulshear took a lead in a set, Hereford never regained it.
Fulshear (45-4) rolled through seven rounds of playoffs without losing a set. The Chargers won their last 11 matches and 23 of the final 24.
In the end, the only question was whether Alexis Dacosta or Echter would be the MVP, but it ultimately went to Dacosta.
“It means a lot,” Dacosta said. “It’s a big part for me because my sister’s here. This is my last season with her, so it was a big thing winning state with her, and getting the MVP award is just amazing.”
Echter has been part of the program’s growth since she was in eighth grade.
“It feels really cool to come from having only eight people in the program to now so many people,” she said. “And now we have a state title and it just feels amazing that we’re so young.”
The Dacosta sisters and junior libero Ava Underwood moved into the Fulshear district last spring, after the Chargers had reached the Region 4 finals under Gotcher.
“I think I can speak for all three of us,” Underwood said. “Being able to come into such a young program and to be able to have the impact that we’ve had, and just to really mesh with the girls has been awesome.”
Fulshear didn’t trail in the first set. The Chargers took the lead for good at 7-6 on Echter’s kill that landed just inside the back line. She served an ace for the 25th point.
Hereford jumped on top in the second set, with a 7-3 lead. The Chargers came back for a 10-9 advantage on a kill by Echter. She had six kills in the set.
Alexis Dacosta had eight kills in the third set. Her first kill gave Fulshear a 3-2 lead. The Chargers never trailed and won the match on Dacosta’s final kill.