Lake Travis middle blocker Morgan Hendrix, like the rest of her teammates, stood devastated during trophy presentations after the state semifinal loss to Highland Park last year.

The Lady Cavs lost the deciding fifth game to the Lady Scots, 17-15, after a whirlwind season that established Lake Travis as a state power.

Hendrix was about to say goodbye to nine seniors, and become a senior herself. At the time, she thought she’d never be back to the state tournament.

“We had just come so far and that loss was so painful,” she said. “But my dad really opened my eyes and encouraged me. He saw the loss as the beginning of something, not the end. Pretty soon, I started seeing it that way, too.”

Not that she was entirely convinced from day one of the 2009 season.

“I really was scared at first, and it was weird to me to be the oldest,” she laughed. “And the team has changed so much over the last three years. I really felt like it needed to be an all-around team effort, and not something that was solely steered by the seniors.”

In a way, the senior still had to do some steering to get to that point, but she had the right idea. Hendrix explodes with fury, disgust and joy in nearly every match the Lady Cavs play, so it was never a question of her own commitment and passion. She knew she’d leave it all on the floor. But there were a lot of younger players stepping into big varsity shoes.

How would she explain the pain of that loss to Highland Park? How could she convince the younger players that this year’s team could be just as good as last year’s, if not better?

As it turned out, she didn’t have nearly as much to worry about as she thought.
“Everybody was really on board early, even though that transition was scary and hard to go through,” she said.

The pain of the loss, Hendrix realized, was easily grasped by everyone in the building, not just the girls on the floor.

“I think a lot of them had seen what happened. They were all there and saw it,” she said. “They saw what happened, but they also saw how hard we were working after the season ended. They saw how hard we worked in club and in practice as a team. I think all of us love volleyball so much. It was easy to relate from the beginning.”

But just like last year, there was no standout player that drove the team to wins. It would have to be about balance again, it would have to be about the only team battling at the end without one dominant player and a lot of equally important parts.

For someone who has played on a number of talented and successful teams in her life, Hendrix admits that notion isn’t easy to accept at first.

“I’m surprised at how well it works because I think we’re surrounded by teams that do have one big reason that they do so well, or one player that stands out,” she said. “I think that’s why last season was so surprising. I never really thought getting to state was an option. I always believed in our abilities, but it just seemed so far away when you’re talking about teams with some of the best players in the state.”

Hendrix said it’s an odd situation because in big games, there’s never an obvious person to turn to. But she also admits that’s part of the team’s strength.

“I think everyone wants the ball, and wants to make that play,” she said. “And it’s never a selfish thing that comes from not trusting each other. It’s just the opposite. We all know we can get it done.”

So when it’s clear a team has the talent and the drive to achieve its goals, all that’s left is someone to steer the ship through clear or rocky waters. Hendrix is undoubtedly that leader.

Every team needs some sort of leader on the field or on the court, and head coach Julie Green appreciates having a senior she can turn to that fills that role.

“We’re watching film today of Hutto. She gets blocked in the film and is immediately furious. And you can see in the film she said, ‘Give me the ball now. They will not block it.’ And everyone laughs in the film session because they know that’s what she’s saying, and everyone is fine with it. Because if she asks for the ball again, our team knows she’s determined,” Green said. “It’s good that she has that energy because not everyone can do that. We feed off of it.”

Hendrix thinks it comes from being in a less successful position early in her volleyball career.

“I think it starts with the fact that I have a lot of energy, and that early on, I wasn’t as good because I was such a spaz and was having trouble putting everything together, lacking coordination,” she laughed. “It started with just trying to be enthusiastic from the bench and helping as much as I could.”

The enthusiasm, joined with intense focus and love for the sport has put Hendrix in an enviable position – the leader of one of the best teams, bound for a collegiate career at Alabama.

“I love volleyball so much, and I think that love just comes out with every point. If it doesn’t come out, I’ll go home and feel like I didn’t put everything into the game. It’s so easy to not go for that extra ball when you’re indifferent. I never want to be in that position,” she said.

But that fearless approach and unrivaled fire gets her into trouble, too.

“It does,” she said. “That’s where I’ve had to learn to control it. If I missed a hit, I would make it so hard on myself. All I would care about is correcting it. But I make sure it’s always self-focused emotion. I never yell at teammates because I don’t want to be that person. That doesn’t help anyone. I just refocus that negative energy into positive action.”

So far, it’s helped Lake Travis to a 41-3 record, a district title and a spot as the region favorite to get back to the state tournament.

“I do think we’re good enough to get back,” Hendrix said. “But I don’t like saying that because I like taking one game at a time. But this team has matured so much since day one, and I don’t think even they realize how much they’ve changed.”

But some things haven’t changed. Like Hendrix’s drive or the sting that lingers from that Highland Park loss.

“All of our practice shirts say 15-17,” she said. “We were so mad. It was just two points. You second-guess everything you did in the game. But you can’t look at it that way. You have to believe that’s just how things worked out, and all you can do is give everything you have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. You never want to have any regrets.”

With her passion and commitment, it’s unlikely Hendrix ever will.