There is the type of seasons turned in by the likes of Cathedral Catholic CA, Cornerstone Christian TX and Prestonwood Christian TX. Highly-ranked schools from the get go which end the year as highly-ranked schools after successful campaigns. Their accomplishments caught no one off guard as they were on everyone’s radar from the beginning.

Then there are seasons like the one experienced by Dripping Springs TX. The Tigers spent nearly the entire fall unnoticed. But they made sure everyone paid attention by ending the year with the Texas 6A state championship. It was one of the most unpredictable storylines from the high school schedule.

The run was made even more improbable considering Dripping Springs had just moved up from 5A to 6A for this season. The Tigers had routinely found themselves going deep in the 5A playoffs, including winning it all in 2015 and finishing runner up in 2014. They reached the semifinals in 2018 and 2020 and were a victory away from the semis in both 2019 and 2021. The best-of-the-best have long ruled 6A though so expecting immediate success in the state’s top division didn’t seem realistic from an outside perspective.

“To the rest of the state, people might think it was crazy and ask where did you come from,” Dripping Springs coach Michael Kane said. “Moving up from 5A to 6A and what that jump was going to look like was the biggest question early on. But, if you look at our program the last decade we have been going to the same three 6A tournaments every preseason. We don’t pad our schedule. We challenge our kids.”

The success of the season is undeniable. So is the impact Henley Anderson had on it. Dripping Springs was a young team overall, with freshman Sydney Lund setting in the back row and sophomores Riley Certain and Ashley Euston occupying the middle. Still, it was the 6-2 freshman outside imposing herself on opponents in commanding fashion. She racked up 540 kills. That was only 12 behind team leader and senior outside Mackenzie Plante, who finished with 552 and is committed to Tennessee. Anderson averaged 3.4 kills per set while hitting .303. She was also third in digs with 369, averaging 2.3 per set, and fourth in blocks with 74. Combined with the 6A state title, Anderson thrusted herself into perfect position to be named vballrecruiter.com’s 2022 High School Freshman Player of the Year.

“I knew Henley is a once-in-a-generation type of player,” Kane said. “I’ve had a couple of those in my career. All you have to do is be near her to know she has the tools. She doesn’t move like a freshman. For her height, she’s agile and athletic. Sometimes you are taken back by it. I knew she would be able to handle the net. The one question mark was how she would handle six-rotations and serve receive in high-level 6A volleyball. It’s different going from 14 Open to varsity kids. She far exceeded what I thought she could do. If anything, I owe her an apology for even questioning if she could handle it or not. To go into 6A volleyball with the schedule I put together and run the gamut like we did, I think she far exceeded anybody’s expectations.”

As amazing as it is, without Anderson’s best performance of the season the state championship and ensuing accolades wouldn’t be so. It was the opening round of the playoffs and Dripping Springs found itself in an 0-2 hole against Vandegrift. However, with Anderson delivering a season-high 25 kills – and hitting .320 – Dripping Springs rallied and eventually prevailed in five.

Anderson had nine kills in a sweep of Johnson in the next round before closing out her season with five consecutive matches in double digits, including 10 kills and hitting .400 in a sweep against Tompkins in the state final. It matched her best streak of the season when she also had five straight matches of double-digit kills from Sept. 13-27.

During her performance against Tompkins in the final it was easy to see Anderson’s next-level potential on display. By then, she had undoubtedly found her role and had established herself as one of the go-to hitters. That wasn’t exactly the case at the beginning of the season as she was figuring out how to mix in with her teammates.

“Coming in as a freshman it is intimidating,” Anderson said. “The team has been so good the past couple of years. My role was to encourage everyone and help build the team. At the first tournament I was rooming with three seniors and they were the main leaders. That helped me bond with them. Going to team dinners and those type of things and we started clicking.

“Coach K was always telling me not to play like a freshman. He would tell me not to be scared of upperclassmen. The first day of tryouts I was so nervous about the older kids and stuff. He kept telling me to lead by example. Once I started playing and getting into the season he said it would get a lot easier with time obviously.”

Kane said Anderson is “one of the most competitive kids you’ll ever meet” and also shared a story about her work ethic and attention to detail. During a morning practice while working on blocking he pointed out a specific thing he wanted Anderson to be aware of.

“It’s midday and I’m in class and get a text from Henley,” Kane said. “She said she had been thinking about what I said and she sent a screen shot of what she was doing wrong. It led to this back and forth we had and I finally said we need to stop because she’s in class. Who is doing that? As a coach, I can see who is watching the most film and she’s leading the team in watching film.”

It was all part of a dream season. One made all the more special by the unpredictability of it. For Anderson, she’ll miss her graduating teammates and being around them next year she said. But she’ll never forget the time they had together.

“Toward the beginning of the season I knew we had the talent,” Anderson said. “I didn’t know we were going to win state. I knew we had potential. We had to mesh as a team. It wasn’t until our third tournament when Coach K said we could win it all. Coach K was the only one who believed in us. We started setting goals for ourselves and we started achieving them.”