Fort Worth-area volleyball team makes history with the school’s first playoff trip
As the UIL Texas high school volleyball playoffs began on Monday, one Fort Worth-area program is making school history with its first postseason appearance — in any sport.
Young Women’s Leadership Academy, located just a few blocks from the convention center in downtown Fort Worth, opens its playoff run against Springtown (25-13) in a Class 4A bi-district game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.
“The kids put in the work and they’ve done everything on and off the court. I’m super proud of this group and it started last year. The results are starting to pay off,” coach Jamie Calahan said. “That’s one thing I try to explain to them ... it’s history-making for the school and you can’t replace that.”
YWLA is Fort Worth ISD’s first single-gender school and opened its doors in 2010 with 75 sixth-graders and 75 seventh-graders.
In its inaugural varsity volleyball season in 2017, the Owls won five games while playing in Class 5A.
Then during the 2018-20 UIL realignment, YWLA was put into Class 6A while having fewer than 200 students on campus. The rest of its district had more than 2,000.
It was rough sledding for the program, winning just one district game in two seasons.
YWLA was dropped to Class 4A during the current realignment and finished sixth in district last season.
“My assistant coach always says to trust the process and the kids have trusted the process,” Calahan said. “Now we got a playoff berth. It’s our first, but we don’t want it to be the only one.”
No home gym
Such as fellow Fort Worth ISD teams before them, Young Men’s Leadership Academy basketball and Benbrook baseball just to name two, the Owls don’t have a home gym on campus.
They practice and play their home games at Wilkerson-Greines, about 15 minutes away from school.
Senior defensive specialist Zaria Ross recalls being a seventh-grader and wondering where the gym was.
“When I got to school on my first day, I was wondering where is the gym if we’re going to play volleyball, but I just dealt with it,” said Ross, who’s been on varsity for three seasons. “You just have to make the commute, you have to make the commitment and we all have it.”
It hasn’t really fazed the program.
The Owls finished 19-10 overall and 9-3 in district, including 6-2 at Wilkerson.
“I mean, it’s no different than any other gym. The biggest difference is the transportation, but we’re used to it,” said junior Kassidy Garcia, one of the team captains.
Garcia said the team will also hold practices at I.M. Terrell, which is less than a mile from YWLA, but much smaller. Wilkerson-Grienes has more than 4,700 seats in its gym.
Getting better together
Garcia, who has been on varsity for all three seasons, is also one of the few players on the team who plays club volleyball, so she tries as much as possible to help her teammates be the best they can be.
“Since I am a captain and play club, and just know more about the game, I try to talk as much on the court so I can help my other teammates. We can learn the game together,” Garcia said.
Ross added the growth of this team in the past three years has been a feat all in itself.
“Seeing us grow since my freshman year and now that I’m a senior, it’s honestly an accomplishment,” Ross said. “We knew how hard we could work. We just had to apply ourselves more than we have in the past.”
Not only has the team grown over the last few seasons, but the amount of fans and support have too.
YWLA has quickly become a volleyball school.
The team also won the Keene Tournament in August, the first high school tournament championship in school history.
“We’re making history at the school and it will always be there forever,” Garcia said.
Added Calahan, “It’s something you envision, getting into the playoffs and when you struggle it’s tough to see that end goal of getting there, but once you get there, it’s gratifying and these girls have played some really good volleyball all year long.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
