Following the Houston High School Volleyball team’s successful season, they have proven excellence on and off the court. The USMC and the American Volleyball Coaches Association granted Houston Volleyball the Team Academic Award with an average GPA of 3.87. Coach Pendleton expressed, “I was really excited when we got this award because I know how hard all our girls work on and off the court."
Lydia Loper, member of the award winning team, emphasizes that school is just as important as volleyball and that she truly is a student and an athlete. Loper explains her teammates' hard work ethic, as sometimes they have to do late night homework or even complete it during practice to uphold the high academic standards. Coach Pendleton even explains how her athletes tutor each other outside of practice.
One element of Coach Pendleton’s coaching methods she emphasized on was “building the complete person”. While she monitors the athletic potential of her athletes, she also tries to keep up with their grades. Many of the volleyball players balance a great load of honors and AP classes, community service and travel for competitive leagues while still managing to uphold an excellent GPA. Coach Pendleton says, “It's a big balance.”
With the next volleyball season coming soon Loper expressed, “I have faith in all the girls. The chemistry is really good this year, so I think no matter what we are going to have fun with it”.