Fourth state championship makes for fitting conclusion to stellar high school career
LUCAS — The last match of her high school career went to the fifth game. Lovejoy was vulnerable. A streak of three titles lay on the line.
So Andie Malloy counseled her younger teammates in the huddle and led the same way she has all year. The Leopards won that game, 15-8, and the title. Of course they did. They had Malloy.
“You could see in her eyes, ‘I’m not going to let this tradition die with me,’ ” coach Ryan Mitchell said.
Malloy, SportsDay’s all-area volleyball player of the year, enjoyed a high school career few athletes can parallel. She was a champion all four years. In her freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years, Lovejoy won state. Malloy was named MVP as a sophomore and this year.
Malloy was ready for something like this from the beginning. Mitchell knew it. He realized this during two-a-days her freshman year, watching a 6-2 kid carry herself with the coordination and poise of a senior. Malloy wasn’t just going to be a contributor. She was going to be special. After that MVP performance as a sophomore, everyone else realized Malloy’s talent, too.
These last two years, she’s made the U.S. National team, played in Guatemala and Turkey, starred for her club team and Lovejoy and signed with Iowa State.
This volleyball career started years ago.
Malloy’s older sister, Tayler, picked up the sport and needed someone to play with. Malloy was in first grade at the time. They would hit on the driveway, Andie begging Tayler to stop so she could go back inside.
Over the years, her view changed. Malloy grew addicted to the sport, striving for improvement. She didn’t want to stop. And her high school career proved it.
“It’s incredible,” Malloy said. “Not many people can say they’ve won four state championships for their four years of high school.”
Recent winners
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR | Brianne Burkert, Richardson Pearce
Notable: Burkert, a freshman setter, contributed for the 4A state finalist, recording seven kills in her team's state final loss. She was the 10-4A newcomer of the year.
Recent winners
COACH OF THE YEAR | Julie Green, Coppell
Notable: In her first year as Coppell's coach, Green led the team to the school's first volleyball state championship.
Recent winners
First team
Second team