Houston County High volleyball players Megan Clark and Viviana Garcia helped make school history. They will do it again – make history – as the first team for volleyball at Dalton State College, a school opening a new era next school year with a four-year NAIA athletic program.
On Monday, Clark and Garcia joined family, coaches and teammates to sign letters-of-intent with Dalton State, which chose the nickname Roadrunners. Their new head coach, Bruna Langner, is a Brazilian native whom the school hired in December to build the team.
“Everything’s going to be brand new,” said Langner. Not only is Dalton State fielding a volleyball team for 2013-14, but basketball, tennis, golf and cross country is also being offered for the first time in this northwest Georgia location. “Right now they are putting a half million dollars into our volleyball gym, which is also going to be a recreation center. We will have our own place to practice and play.”
Langner’s recruiting process only began in January. It’s close to mid-March, and she reports nearing completion of a full roster.
The coach is a graduate of Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn. After a storied volleyball career for Lee that included conference Player of the Year and four NAIA All-American honors, she stayed as an assistant coach for the past four seasons. Lee will be one of Dalton’s big rivals in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Lee is in fact the defending conference champions and earned an NAIA national berth to finish at No. 9 in the nation.
“I’m so very excited with (Clark and Garcia),” said Langner. “They are good students, good people. I want kids who will get along and happy to play with each other. At the same time, I am very competitive. My main goal is in three to four years go to the national tournament and be one of the best teams in the country.”
Since that is a three- to four-year goal, Clark and Garcia will be entering their junior and senior years and should well be the heart of the Roadrunners. Langner said they are just a part of what she expects to be a strong initial class to get things going in that direction.
Known as Huey to her players, Houston County High volleyball coach Maria Huelsman saw Monday as especially special. She said Clark and Garcia are big reasons why the Bears accomplished what they have in her five years.
“They bought into a system that’s been working,” she said. “Both have gone above and beyond the call of duty for me.
“Megan has always been a defensive specialist, and she’s phenomenal at that position. Viviana’s played on the outside, she’s set. They are just versatile players, and big shoes we are going to have to fill next year for sure.”
Garcia, the daughter of Gloria and Johnny Ramos, is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the family moving to Houston County three years ago. She said she wouldn’t have this opportunity without the help of coach “Huey” and her teammates. Playing all the positions helped her gain a strong knowledge of the game overall.
“I’ve been playing since I was 6,” said Garcia. “It’s been an exciting journey, and I don’t know what I would do without volleyball. In Puerto Rico, it’s a really big sport, so my mom just put me out there with my cousins, and it became a passion. Every time I get on the court, that feeling of excitement is amazing.”
In school, Garcia plans to study biology at Dalton State with the hopes of later enrolling in medical school. What she wants to do is follow in her father’s footsteps as a neuro-physiologist. This is the person who controls the nervous system during brain surgery, she explained.
“It’s really cool. Hopefully, I’ll be there one day,” said Garcia. She added it was a blessing to find the Dalton State program and just wants to have a good time developing as a player.
Clark has some athletics in her background, her grandfather once being a high school football coach in New Mexico and her mother, Nancy Cole, being a former volleyball player. However, Clark didn’t take up volleyball until she was in the eighth grade as her first sport was soccer.
About her opportunity to be one of the first Roadrunners, Clark said it was a great combination of financial support and continuing her competitive career. It was her grandparents, who reside now in Chattanooga, who found out about the new program at Dalton and suggested she look into it. The same day, she said the coach contacted her, so a visit was arranged and Clark liked what she saw.
“We’ll only be practicing a week and a half before our first game,” said Clark. “I’ll get to meet new people and do different things.
“I’m going to miss (HCHS volleyball). I love everything about it. It’s going to be weird not going here anymore. (The girls) are always there for you. Practice hard, because if not you don’t get to play. Be there, and you earn the respect of everyone.”
Clark is so committed to volleyball that she would even play with her club team in a freezing gym (no heat) on a snowy day in Tennessee. She said the ball was so hard it bruised all their arms up bad. But her team won that championship game.
“All my friends played soccer, and I wanted something different,” said Clark about taking up the game late. “Volleyball was offered in the fall, and I said ‘Why not?’ My mom helped me out. It turned out really well.
“I was not the player I am today. Coach Huey is a great coach. My attitude’s gotten a whole lot better. I was so mean my eighth grade year; now as team captain everyone looks up to me. I’ve developed that playing volleyball.”
Clark’s academic plans, like Garcia’s, is to study biology. Her goal, though, is to treat animals as a veterinarian.
“They are going to be setting a legacy of their own,” said Huelsman. “I can’t imagine two greater players going to start a great tradition.
“They are going to be in more intense workouts as far as weightlifting goes. They will have three workouts a day where they only had one here. Both of them were good leaders, always at workouts. Megan set the standard in the weight room pushing herself to get stronger and letting the young ones see what the work ethic has to be to get (to the next level).”
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