Eighteen sets won, only two lost. Five sweeps, one fifth set. 440 total points scored and an undefeated district record so far.

One game left before the cycle starts again and they are hungry to add more.

Despite having a young team with just two seniors, the varsity volleyball team remains first in district with a 6-0 district match record. The team is coming off a 3-0 against Glenn on Tuesday and a 3-2 win against last year’s 5A State Runner-up, Liberty Hill on Sept. 24.

“I think the scores indicated itself,” Head Coach Lori McLaughlin said about the Panther win. “Obviously with the game being five sets and for us to win by two, that just tells you how relentless both sides of the net were. So it’s a great accomplishment.” 

Senior captain and defensive specialist Haley Burton said the win gave the team a confidence boost because of the history the two teams have with each other. 

“Obviously they’re our biggest rivals and it’s usually between them or us for first in the district,” Burton said. “They’ve beaten us and they’ve been super braggy [about it] so this finally felt like it was our turn.”

The team has an overall record of 19-15, having played multiple top ranked 6A teams such as Lake Travis and San Antonio Reagan. Despite falling 2-1 to Reagan on Aug. 22, the Lady T-Wolves beat LTHS 3-1 on Sept. 3. McLaughlin said the success has been coming from the culture the girls have curated in the locker room.

“How we play for each other, it’s a family type environment and that just says volumes with our success,” McLaughlin said. “I know our record doesn’t indicate that, but we had a very challenging preseason schedule for a reason, and now it’s hopefully coming together at the right time.” 

Along with Burton, senior middle blocker Sofia Peters also serves as a captain on the team. Junior outside hitter Maya Cheatum said the two seniors’ leadership plays a large role in keeping the culture of the locker room positive. 

“[Peters’s] leadership throughout the whole season has been great,” Cheatum said. “She’s always just pushing us to be better on and off the court. [Burton], she definitely has taught us to always have big energy in the games, whether it’s in practice or on the court. Both of them have made us, especially me, want to cherish the season a lot more since there are only two of them. They’re just our role models all together.” 

With the second cycle of district games coming up after the game against Rouse on Friday, McLaughlin said the team is working on improving play every moment. 

“The second time isn’t going to be easy,” McLaughlin said. “That’s the thing about this district is the coaches are so good and very skilled with what they do and every team is usually different the second time that we play. We just want to hope that we add some more finesse to our game, and then lead us into the postseason which hopefully [has us] peaking at the right time.”