McKinney North head volleyball coach Libby Rodriguez recalls her daughter, Gabi, saying she wanted to be an Olympian as far as back as when she was 8 years old.
With that goal still within reach for the Lady Bulldogs’ star senior libero, Gabi took a major step in her development as a volleyball player last month when she suited up to play for the U.S. Girls U19 National Team during its run through the FIVB Women’s U21 World Championship.
“It’s the highest level of volleyball I can play in at my age, so I took a lot that I learned from coaches, the other teams competing and my teammates,” Rodriguez said. “I came back into the gym here ready to go. I taught my high school team stuff and other people who would ask for advice, and I feel like I’m way more knowledgeable for that experience.”
It was one that took Rodriguez entirely by surprise as she received an email from USA Volleyball inviting her to a training block at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs around March while traveling to a club volleyball qualifier in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“I just broke down into tears. I was so happy. It was a dream come true,” she said.
Rodriguez had spent the previous summer competing among the top prep volleyball players in the country as part of the National Team Development Program training series and was one of 19 athletes chosen for the training block – with 12 ultimately selected for the U19 national team.
“I took it as more of a learning opportunity. I didn’t really go in thinking about it as a tryout,” Rodriguez said. “I wanted to learn as much as I could from that, and they did a really good job of resting our bodies knowing we had a whole tournament ahead of us. It was really fun.”
While the rest of the state began its first week of high school practices on Aug. 1, Rodriguez was prepping for a trip to Surabaya, Indonesia – her first-ever venture overseas – for an otherwise unique entry into international volleyball.
Due to a scheduling conflict with the NCAA season, the U19 national team was tasked with competing in the U21 age division. Despite the age difference between the U.S. and the rest of the countries in the tournament, Rodriguez and Team USA finished 7-2 and in ninth place overall.
The Americans won their first four matches from Aug. 7-11 against Korea, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Croatia before falling to China in three sets. Team USA was then bested in the round of 16 by Bulgaria before finishing the tournament with wins over Puerto Rico, Croatia and Czechia.
“We felt like we had nothing to lose and I feel like that helped us out a lot,” Rodriguez said. “It was tough to get used to at first because they were so much bigger, more powerful and faster. But we were so competitive that we just went out and played volleyball. Nothing mental. We had a great showing and I think that helped us a lot.”
Rodriguez donned the libero jersey for the U.S. and registered the tournament’s fifth-highest dig total with 98 while averaging 10.9 per match.
“I came in prepared and even my coaches complimented me on that,” she said. “I was prepared mentally and physically, and I’m really proud of that, but I couldn’t have done any of it without my teammates. They’re so amazing on and off the court and so supportive.”
It’s nothing new for North volleyball fans, who have watched Rodriguez anchor the back row for the Lady Bulldogs throughout her four-year varsity tenure. Rodriguez recently surpassed 2,400 digs for her high school career and has her sights set on clearing 3,000 by season’s end.
Verbally committed to Texas A&M, Rodriguez totaled 849 digs as a sophomore and 937 as a junior – averaging at least 25.7 digs per match both seasons on her way to being twice named SLM’s defensive player of the year.
As she backed up that stellar play on an international stage, Gabi had plenty of support back home with coach Rodriguez able to watch on as a mother.
“The coach side of me got to sit back probably more than ever,” Libby Rodriguez said. “I’m wearing my mom hat just thinking of how cool this all is and not wanting her to play bad. There are so many emotions, but it was the coolest thing and she genuinely loves every single one of those girls.
“… Nothing tops watching your kid do what they love at the highest level they can do it.”
While that experience deprived North of its defensive backbone during the first couple weeks of the season, Rodriguez hasn’t missed a beat since returning to action with the Lady Bulldogs on Aug. 22. North is 10-1 over that stretch, finishing off its preseason schedule on Tuesday with a three-set sweep of Marcus (25-13, 25-11, 25-12) to improve to 19-3 overall.
“We have a lot of chemistry from last year, having made it to the state finals,” Rodriguez said. “Our expectations in the gym are extremely high and our practices in the gym are very intense. We know that coming in, and coach keeps those expectations high. It’s an expectation for us to be performing at a high level and it felt great coming back into such a committed environment.”
The Lady Bulldogs aren’t lacking for motivation after making their first-ever run to the Class 5A Division I state championship match last season, where they fell to Corpus Christi Flour Bluff in a five-set thriller. That moment has been a driving force for Rodriguez and the rest of the team’s seniors, many of whom have been playing at the varsity level since they were freshmen or sophomores.
“I remind myself every single day. That pain was something you can’t really compare anything to, and it was tough because we got so close,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’ll help us this year by having so many seniors, and I think we can use it to our advantage for sure.”
With the preseason in the rearview mirror, North gets its District 9-5A schedule underway next week at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Greenville.