By Kevin Lonnquist
NTX Varsity Sports Columnist
If you didn’t know anything about Springtown’s volleyball team when it walked into a gym, your first impression may have been one word.
Meh.
A front line that provides anything less than intimidation. Only two players standing 5-10 or taller.
Looks can be deceiving. Yet it’s been working to head coach Abby Zipoy’s team’s advantage. So far, this Lady Pines season is nearing 30 wins spurred with the drive to win a Class 4A State Championship.
At 28-7, Springtown is one win shy of matching its 2024 total (29) before Friday’s District 7-4A match at Krum. The Lady Pines are ranked No. 13 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 4A poll.
Springtown began to earn the reputation of being a contender in its first tournament back in August. Playing Mansfield, the state’s No. 2 Class 6A program, this should have been a mismatch. Then the Lady Pines stunned the Lady Tigers winning the first game before Mansfield regrouped and rallied to win the last two.
“My good friend who is the head coach at Mansfield (three-time state champion Julie Price) said to me after the match, ‘I thought we were going to roll you,’’’ Zipoy said. “Then after that first game she realized if they didn’t play better, they were going to get rolled.’’
Zipoy and her players have pointed to this season since this past December when the offseason began. By design, this roster was built for 12 when normal varsity rosters are larger. The catch was that 11 were returning from 2024.
Four captains were chosen through a vote based on players answering questions about who fit certain criteria.
“From the minute offseason started, we talked about how good we could be,’’ said Zipoy, who is now in her second season. “We’re smaller in height and numbers wise. But we have kids who play a bunch of positions. And we thought this is our year to do something big.’’
Zipoy has been coaching the sport long enough to know that when it’s right in the locker room, it’s typically going to be right on the court. Culture matters. A family atmosphere binds. Accountability is key. Cliques would have no place if this team wanted to play the week before Thanksgiving, state championship week.
Four captains make up this team, two seniors in setter Bailey Walker and libero Brooklynn Quintanilla and two juniors between outside hitters Ryleigh Strickland and Libby Tedder. Tedder is coming off an all-state season as a sophomore and currently leads all North Texas high school volleyball with 377 kills.
“Bailey is down to earth. All the kids respect her,’’ Zipoy said. “Brooklynn is feisty. She’ll throw her body around on the floor and I wonder how she does what she does. We gave all our kids a form to fill out for captain and it asked questions like who do you respect the most? We needed good leadership.”
Leadership coupled with a determined mindset matters most following disappointment. Take Tuesday’s loss at No. 4 and defending state champion Decatur. Springtown fell in straight sets in the district opener.
However, that was deceptive. Springtown lost the first two sets by two points, 25-23 and 26-24. Those were games the Lady Pines held a solid lead. To be sure, there were lessons.
“The feeling was they couldn’t wait to play them again,’’ Zipoy said. “When they came in [Wednesday] at 6:30 am for practice, they reset and refocused. That’s what you want to see.’’
There’s nothing meh about that.