6 Marble Falls volleyball players selected all-district

CAPTION: Senior Mia Trejo (left), sophomore Madison Cuplin and Katie Terrell are all members of the All-District 24-4A team. Photo by Ernesto Rivera

The Marble Falls High School volleyball program came within a win of qualifying for the 2024 Class 4A playoffs. To do that, the Lady Mustangs had to give consistently good performances throughout the District 24-4A campaign.

And opposing coaches noticed by selecting six Lady Mustangs to all-district teams.

“Every coach wants every kid to get recognized,” Marble Falls head coach Christopher Pace said. “The stats backed up every kid I put up. All of them got recognized. They were the most deserving ones whose stats were the hardest to go against.”

Senior Mia Trejo and junior Kate McCary are first team all-district members.

Trejo recorded 53 kills, 112 assists, 65 digs, 11 blocks and 16 aces. But what is most impressive about her is that she made a position change — moving from hitter to setter — on the first day of fall training camp in August. Varsity setters, who are the sport’s version of football’s quarterbacks, typically spend years working the position.

But Pace said from the moment he saw Trejo, he knew she needed to be the team’s setter. She told him her No. 1 goal was “to win.”

“She is naturally gifted at the sport of volleyball,” he said. “This is what she loves to do. She has always been one of our go-to options. I watched Mia set for about three minutes before I said she needs to be with the setters. I knew how talented she was. She was consistent with the ball in her hands. We needed Mia’s ability to hit and set for three rotations. She excelled as a setter. That speaks volumes of what she’s capable of.”

McCary had 30 kills, 15 aces, a 1.77 serve-receive rating and 121 digs in district play and 406 digs during the season to set a new program record. She also had 108 kills during the season. McCary’s versatility meant she rarely exited the floor. But her ability to dig just about anything sent her way puts her in a unique category.

“She broke the record by 150 digs,” Pace said. “She was a force on the block. She had some good shots in (the hitting) category. Everyone remembered No. 2. I’m excited she’s coming back.”

Second team all-district members are sophomore Madison Cuplin and freshman Brighton Bernard.

Bernard had 52 kills, 49 digs, 5 blocks and 11 aces, while Cuplin had 80 kills including 15 against Taylor and 16 versus Lampasas. During the season, the sophomore had 186 kills, which ranks third in that category in the program record book.

“There’s an ability that Cuplin has,” the coach said. “Her strengths are her ability to chase balls and her ability to hit hard. We ran our offense through her.”

Pace said he “asked a lot of” Bernard in her first year on campus and in the program.

“A lot more than I did of the other girls,” he said. “She plays a lot of volleyball and a lot of high level volleyball. Against Jarrell, she had 8 kills to lead the team. She has a lot of potential. I never questioned her work ethic. She worked hard from day one.”

Honorable mention went to junior Kenadi Dalton and sophomore Katie Terrell, who were both team captains. Making this team was difficult as making the other two because coaches decided to give only two spots to each program for a total of 14 players.

Dalton, which served as the libero, had 89 digs, 10 aces, a 1.75 serve-receive rating and had a 98 percent serving percentage with only one miss in district play.

“Moving her to libero utilized everybody else to the best of their ability,” Pace said. “She takes care of the ball really well and doesn’t make mistakes.”

Terrell had 50 kills, 111 digs, 12 blocks and 10 aces. She had more than 150 kills this season in her varsity debut.

“She’s very talented, especially as an outside hitter,” Pace said. “In a few times against Burnet, she hit line. After the third time, (Burnet’s) coaches said, ‘We need to adjust.’ She’s a very good blocker. In six rotations, she never came off the court. She stays calm, cool and collected.”

District coaches also named Marble Falls the Staff of the Year.

Pace used one match to point out the greatness of the district. District champion Salado beat district runner-up Georgetown Gateway in the Class 4A Division II Region III championship to advance to the state tournament. Salado, which beat Gateway three times in 2024, lost to eventual state champion Wimberley in the semifinals.

“I think our district is extremely talented,” he said. “Every team has 9 to 10 girls who are trying to do the right thing. Salado is very deep. Their bench is very good, their starters are very good. Burnet is the same way. Jarrell has a lot of talented pieces. Lampasas has a couple of really good pieces. Every team has depth and girls who go in and do the right things. One bad district match could have held you off of all-district nominations.”

Pace noted the Marble Falls junior varsity had a 21-17 record and the freshmen went 18-12. Seven of his varsity players who return in 2025 and several sub varsity players are all playing club ball.

CAPTION: Junior Kate McCary’s solid performances on the back row paved the way to being selected to the first team. Photo by Ernesto Rivera