George Ranch likes its chances against 5A power Lovejoy
Cheyanne Forshee saw it first.
The prospect of building a championship contender from scratch — and that’s what George Ranch is this week in its first appearance at the state volleyball tournament — lured her over from Terry five years ago.
She sized up the talent, recognized the potential, and now she’s witnessing results.
“Any time you have an opportunity to start a brand-new program, from ground up, that’s exciting in itself, and knowing the talent was going to be here, I knew it was going to be a fun thing to do,” Forshee said. “I didn’t know how long it was going to take, but every year we’ve gotten better.”
Now the Longhorns (417) are among the best.
They face Lucas Lovejoy (43-6) in the Class 5A semifinals at noon Friday at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.
“I am extremely excited,” middle blocker Ambrielle Logan said. “It’s something we’ve always known that we could do, but the fact that we’re actually doing it now — with all of my favorite people — I’m elated.”
Logan is one of five thirdyear varsity seniors who lifted the program to a new level, along with middle blocker Mattie Ward, outside hitter Allyson Dernehl, right side Ainsley Mandell and setter Abbey Messick.
Their bond was forged in seventh grade.
“We all work really well together, we have that common goal in mind, and we’ll do anything it takes to achieve it,” Ward said.
Junior Valerie Valerian overcame knee issues that slowed her last year to lead the Longhorns with 589 kills.
“We’re pretty explosive, (and) we’re dynamic,” Forshee said. “We play very well together. And what’s really good about this group is, having a plethora of attackers up front, we’re able to spread the ball around and utilize multiple hitting options, and not just limit ourselves to one person.”
George Ranch was at or near the top of the 5A area rankings all year, but it’s 21st in MaxPreps’ 5A state rankings. The other three qualifiers are in the top seven — and the Longhorns noticed.
But those are only numbers, and they already beat the odds, ousting regional powers Santa Fe and Barbers Hill. Those wins buoyed the Longhorns’ belief they’re as capable as anyone of winning it all.
“Even when we were down, and we were facing adversity, we pushed through against teams likes Santa Fe and Barbers Hill, especially, when we went to five (sets),” Ward said. “We persevered knowing this is our last chance.”
They’ll need all the determination they can muster — and the vision of their coach — to steal the Leopards’ spot. Lovejoy has captured six state titles in the last seven years.
“I’m pretty excited,” Forshee said. “I’ve watched film on them, and I think we have a great opportunity. What we’ve got going on for us is we’re going to be able to defend them well, and offensively, we’re going to be a threat.
“But it’s ironic that, right now, we’re going into this facing, supposedly, a big giant or whatever, and Holly Holms, just now, took down the big giant in the UFC (Ronda Rousey). So, hey,
anything is possible.”