Fulshear Chargers - Twice Would be Nice

The next stop on our high school series around the state brings us to a smaller area south of Houston. We are going to introduce you to District 24-5A slightly new program Fulshear Chargers.   For a school that is only in its third year of existence, they sure don’t play like it. They have reached the Regional Finals for the last two years. They won the Texas State Volleyball Championship last year in 4A, but this year they make the move up to 5A and will compete in district 24 with powerhouse Richmond Foster High School. Or should I say everyone must compete with Fulshear. Just because they move up in enrollment size doesn’t mean they lose anything on the court. They have enough talent returning to win back-to-back State titles this coming year or at the very least, another deep run in the playoffs.   Let’s begin their story by learning about Coach Sydney Gotcher who leads the “Charge”. Coach Gotcher is from the San Antonio area where she grew up as a football coach’s kid. She says that’s how she knew from a young age that she wanted to coach at the high school level. She played volleyball at Smithson Valley High School and then spent her college years playing and coaching club in the San Antonio area. Her first head coaching job was at Kerrville Tivy. She was then presented with an opportunity to build a program from scratch at Fulshear and she didn’t want to pass it up. She was worried about the fact that there was nothing truly in place, no traditions, and no examples for the kids of how things should be. But she has done a wonderful job because it led to her receiving one of the highest honors. She was named 2019 Coach of the Year by UIL.   We had a chance to sit down with Coach Sydney Gotcher to discuss her program and here is a little from our conversation.   Prep Dig Tx: What do you love about the school? Coach Gotcher: It has been amazing to see Fulshear grow into a school with so much school spirit, considering we started from scratch. We have great support from our administration and staff, and I love seeing even our custodial staff show up in their Fulshear Volleyball shirts to watch our games! The small city of Fulshear shows a lot of community support, and we are surrounded by great kids with great families.   Prep Dig Tx: What do you love about your volleyball program the most? Coach Gotcher: I believe our volleyball program works harder than any other program in the state. We are in the weight room year round, including twice a week during the season and we rarely have a Saturday morning off. We lift heavy and the girls are bought in to the idea that the weight room will give us the strength, power, quickness and physical and mental toughness we need to be the best. We have players who embrace the idea of hard work and are willing to do whatever it takes to get better every day.   Prep Dig Tx: What is your coaching philosophy and how do you apply it to your teams? Coach Gotcher: Our core values are leadership, discipline and integrity and we try to teach our players to apply these values in their athletic, school, and home lives. We want to prepare our players to be successful not only in high school sports, but in life.   Prep Dig Tx: Any other coaches or staff you would like to highlight? Coach Gotcher: My right hand is Rebecca Anderson, who coaches the JV but also plays a huge role in coaching the varsity team. She takes on a lot of responsibility without being asked and I put a lot of pressure on her, which she handles with grace. She is always ready to offer advice but will support me in my decisions no matter what.   Let’s meet some of the unquestioned leaders of the team that will try to go back to back. Without further ado, here are a few of the Fulshear Chargers:   [caption id="attachment_92855" align="aligncenter" width="345"] Photo Credit: Fuslhear HS[/caption]   [player_tooltip player_id="87472" first="Alexis" last="Dacosta"] [2022] 5-10 Outside (HS: Fulshear/Club: Houston Skyline/ Verbal: Baylor) Alexis is listed as as the number 7th ranked prospect in the 2022 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Balanced footwork and total body strength comes to mind when I watch her play. Her feet are always balanced on the court and that allows her to play the ball well. She really engages her core when playing the ball and it is very evident in her high tempo attacks on the pins. She has all of the tools you want in a six rotation outside. The Baylor commit has a great chance to move up our rankings as the years go by. She is an outside hitter whose defensive skills are also outstanding. Alexis was named All-State last year as a sophomore and was also named MVP of the state tournament. Coach Gotcher says that she has never seen a high school player hit as hard as Alexis does. Her power is unmatched and she is virtually unstoppable. She is also a smart player and knows when to exchange power for smart ball placement. Oh yeah...she’s only a sophomore and still has two more years to terrorize her opponents.   [player_tooltip player_id="87392" first="Ellie" last="Echter"] [2021] 6-0 Outside (HS: Fulshear/Club: Houston Skyline/ Verbal: LSU) Ellie comes in as the 4thranked prospect in the 2021 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Ellie reaches very high when contacting and has a very smooth arm swing. She is an outside who can easily control her attack to score in a variety of ways. This young lady loves to find the hands of blockers and tool them to score. She does this at a very high clip. She has a verbal commitment to LSU and should do great things in the SEC. Her club team also runs her out of the backrow and she can score there also. Her offensive skill-set is vast and she shows she belongs on such a great club team. For Fulshear, she has been their leading outside hitter as well as their speaking captain for the last three years in a row. She received All-State honors for the last two years. Coach Gotcher says that she is everything a coach could ask for as she is an amazing leader, athlete and one of the hardest workers on the team. She leads by example and her teammates rally around her and follow. Her senior season should be one for the books as she will look to make it three years in a row to receive such high accolades.   [player_tooltip player_id="87492" first="Ava" last="Underwood"] [2022] 5-6 Libero (HS: Fulshear/Club: Houston Skyline/Verbal: Texas A&M) Ava is the number 27thranked prospect in the 2022 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is verbally committed to Texas A&M. Ava constantly keeps her feet moving before the hitter contacts the ball putting herself in the best position to react to the attack. She covers a lot of ground when the hitter goes away from her. She extends her range very well. On a hard driven ball, she collapses so well to still keep a soft contact on the ball. She also received All-State honors last year for Fulshear. Coach Gotcher says that Ava is everything a great libero should be as she is intense, quick, vocal, and diverse. Her natural instincts are remarkable, but the work she puts in every day is what pushes her over the top. She loves the grind and will go all out, whether we are warming up for a Monday morning practice or competing in the state championship. She is one of the Chargers’ team captains and is considered the heart of their team.   This is a special program and they have all of the tools to make a return trip to State as they bring back four starters from last years title winning team. I can’t wait to cover them during the season once it gets underway.   There are many stories of schools and club teams similar to this that we will be covering. Stay tuned for more great info. If you think your school or club has a good story, please contact me and I will gladly communicate. You can email me at nov8vb@yahoo.com.