Wilson began the 2002-2003 club season with a core group of players who had been with him for the previous two campaigns -- Sarah Harris, Samantha Dabbs, Jennifer Banse, Mary Batis and Stephanie Cadavid. All were coming off award-winning high school seasons and were joined by newcomers Jessica Glover, Megan McDougall, Heather Maddox, Maggie Baird and Destinee Hooker, a 6’3” middle who would later quit the team to concentrate on basketball. The coach had size, talent, athleticism and he was confident he had a national contender.

“The cool thing is that I've had these players for three years now,” he said. “We didn't have to start from scratch. We were teaching ball control and fast tempo offenses when they were thirteen. What we had lacked was experience. Now we had five players who had been in big matches at nationals. We had the experience along with the skills.”

And now they have the national championship trophy to prove it. As most Texas volleyball fans know by now, Alamo won the 15 Open championship last weekend by compiling an amazing 11-0 record (22-2 in games) that included a 22-25, 25-21, 15-7 comeback win over Milwaukee Sting in the national championship match. As far as anyone can tell, it’s the first junior Open title ever for a Texas team.

And for setter Samantha Dabbs, named the tournament MVP, the experience was everything she had dreamed it would be. “It was so exciting,” she said. “It was just incredible.”

“The most amazing rush,” added Banse, who was named to the all-tournament team with teammates Batis and Glover. “There’s nothing that feels so good as to accomplish your dream.”

It only took a couple of early tournaments for the returning players to grow confident in their new teammates. They opened the season going undefeated to win a 15s and a 16s tournament back-to-back.

"After we won the first tournament I thought we really had the potential,” said Dabbs. “It seemed like the four new players fit right in and I thought if we can all come together we'll be fine."

“We were a little shaky at first because we had to get to know everyone on and off the court,” added Banse. “At first we weren’t really thinking about gold medals, we just wanted to have a good season. Then a couple of weeks before we played at MEQ started talking about going for it.”

Alamo finished second at the Mideast Qualifier, earning an Open berth at nationals. By the time they walked out of the Atlanta Convention Center three months later with gold medals hanging from their necks they had compiled an amazing 93-6 record.

Alamo cruised through pool play in Atlanta, losing only one game in eight matches. The team opened bracket play with sweeps against Texas Advantage and Golden Bear. Suddenly Alamo was one win from its goal.

"It was crazy. The parents were crying and all," said Dabbs, “and I thought 'oh gosh' we're in the finals. I was just so excited because I wanted to play on the big court."

Sting jumped on Alamo early, taking game one. Alamo was a little stunned but their confidence was not shaken.

“I was thinking 'thank God we play a best of three',” said Banse.

“After the first game we had a team talk and said ‘guys we have to come out with more energy’,” said Dabbs. “I was thinking, ‘I'm not losing this championship game’."

“It was evident that we were nervous and anxious at the beginning of the game by the type of errors we were making,” said Wilson. “The errors were mental, and great teams like Sting capitalize on these kinds of errors. But we closed the gap midway through (the first game) and we finished strong. Typically when we have leads like they did, we don't allow the other team to come back and make it respectable.”

Fortunately, Alamo had been through a similar situation the previous day against Orlando – the team’s only loss prior to the finals.

“I told them that within the past three days, we've experienced it all,” said Wilson. “I said let's focus on the adjustments that we need to make against Sting, eliminate the nervous mistakes, and ‘do what we do’.”

They did. After winning game two, Alamo jumped out to a quick lead in the deciding third game. At that point, Dabbs says she realized that all those two-a-day workouts, those trips to the open gyms and other training the team had been through was about to pay off.

"We were up like 13-7 and I looked back and saw Jenny was serving and I looked at who we had on the front row and I thought, ‘OK, we’ve got our good server and a huge block.’ Then I looked across the net, and their faces were like ‘oh wow, we're in trouble.” And that's when I thought ‘we have them right where we want them’."

For Dabbs, closing out the match “was special.”

“Sarah (Harris) had been sick to her stomach the entire tournament,” said Dabbs. “She had missed some the first and second day but we just had to have her play. I remember at 14 (match point) we went to Sarah for the kill and she just barely hit it out. I felt so bad for her because I knew she was sick and I wanted her to get it. So then we went back to her again and she just crushed it. I was so proud because she had to play even though she was really feeling bad."

Looking back, Wilson says his players “looked like they were a team on a mission. They were amazing. They were more focused than in the past. We also learned from last year that the first match of the first day is as important as the last match of the last day. And that is what we did.”

Dabbs and Banse agree.

"Those of us here last year knew that being ranked doesn't mean anything,” said Dabbs. "Last year we came in feeling good because we were ranked second and we ended up finishing fifth. So I knew that we had to play every game like it was a championship game.”

“Nothing really had to be said,” added Banse. “Last year after seeing how little things can distract you, we knew what to expect. I was very confident; not cocky, but very confident.”

So now it’s over. Dabbs, Banse and her teammates head off to High Performance teams, USA Volleyball training programs and summer camps to complete what’s left of their summer. After a three-year journey, Wilson says he won't be back next year. He says he'll take next club season off to “do the family thing.”

“My wife and I had a long range plan that I was actually going to go one more year, but I think I might like to go out on top,” he says. “I’ll take a year off then see what happens.”

But he will always have great memories.

“These ladies are simply amazing,” he says. “We always focused on being the complete athlete on and off the court. We represented Alamo with dignity, character, respect for all those we met during the season, and I thank the parents for their value system and the teams and fans that we met along the way for their continued support. These ladies built a well-deserved fan base around the country.”