UTB-TSC volleyball team rallies as national champs

By Jacqueline Armendariz

The Brownsville Herald

UTB-TSC’s first-ever national championship team took a jog around the Garza Gym Friday evening, high-fiving everyone in the front row of the bleachers to celebrate their moment in history.

The rally marked the volleyball team’s road to clenching the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship title on Dec. 3 in Sioux City, Iowa. They beat California’s Concordia University 3-1.

School officials said it was difficult to celebrate the win late last year, as it lined up closely with finals at the end of the fall semester. The Friday rally, open to the public, brought Juliet V. Garcia, president of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College partnership, Provost Alan Artibise as well as other administrators and students to celebrate the moment.

"It’s been pretty tough. There’s been lots going on," Garcia said to the audience in the practically full bleachers of the small gym. "We needed it. We needed a win."

The 20-year partnership between UTB and TSC began its path to winding down last year, but that was not evident at the Friday rally. Banners proclaiming UTB-TSC’s prowess in volleyball and other sports hung in the gym.

A slideshow showcasing photos of the team at the championship began with the group wearing reindeer antlers and one player saying to the camera:

"All I want for Christmas is to go to Sioux City, Iowa."

Later, Garcia said of Coach Todd Lowery, who has spent three seasons with the Scorpions, that he knew the potential his team held for the 2011-2012 season. Garcia said he told her they could win.

"He expected it. They believed it and they did," Garcia said.

Anayeli Trevino is one of four seniors on the championship team. The 21-year-old exercise science major, who has been with the team for four years, was hugged by teammates as soon as she walked in the gym.

The Brownsville native wore a nonstop smile.

"This is huge for me. For all of us. It’s just crazy, " Trevino said.

She said Ronnie Zamora, UTB-TSC director of sports information and marketing, had recorded the match point.

"Every time we all look at that it just brings us to tears because it took a lot of work," Trevino said.

The moment the team knew they won was a defining one that kept them up that night with excitement, but there were other meaningful moments.

Trevino recalls the strangers that have congratulated the team, commenting that they love to watch the team play. She recalls the little girls hoping to take pictures with the team and have them sign autographs.

"That feels good. We’re a part of their lives. We’re not just athletes," she said.

Others, she said, realize the significance of the moment and wish they might have had the same chance themselves.

"Everybody tells me that’s awesome," she said. "That’s something to talk about for the rest of your life."

Trevino, who will graduate in May 2013, is a defense specialist. Her job is to "not let the ball drop," she said. Over the years, as a relatively small volleyball player at 5 foot 1 inches and the smallest on the UTB-TSC team, she said she learned to deal with getting picked on about it while competing.

The team, she said, began with locals her first year to expanding to a roster with highly skilled athletes from Serbia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Germany that grew into a close knit group.

It was disappointing, she said, not to be able to celebrate on a larger scale — or to do it at the time they won the championship. But, having her older brother Nestor sing the national anthem on Friday was a highlight, she said.

The national champion’s advice to others: "Give it all you’ve got and have no regrets."

Mari Fuentes-Martin, UTB-TSC associate vice president of Student Affairs and also dean of students, said the win would likely help recruiting and foster exposure for UTB-TSC outside the region and the nation.

Most of all, she said, it is a morale boost for the campus.

"National champs. Those are the two words that kind of blow you away," she said.

Several members of the UTB-TSC Student Nurse Association were among the many students at the rally. The group, dressed in green scrubs, said as a new club they hoped to get more involved in campus activities so they made it a point to attend the rally.

"We’re a smaller branch of UT and these are our girls," Paola Bazavilvazo, a senior, said. "We’re proud they went so far and put our name out there."

The national championship is a moment that brought recognition to UTB-TSC, she said.

"We live in the shadow of UT and A&M," Matthew Paul Gomez, a bachelor of arts graduate and member of the Student Nurse Association, said.

The students who attended the rally were chatty, seemingly excited to celebrate as cowbells, noisemakers and the drumline worked together to create an energetic atmosphere.

Ivan Ortiz, a junior with the nursing group, answered with a smile when asked what brought him there:

"It’s pride basically."