By Max Thompson

Right before the volleyball season started, I got a note from a Lake Travis volleyball fan informing me that the Lady Cavs had a great shot at state.

“No they don’t,” I remember thinking. “But thanks for the e-mail.”

It’s safe to say you could definitely count me among the skeptics.

I had my reasons.

They were coming off a season in which they were upset in the first round of the playoffs, with the majority of the squad returning.

They had a new coach in Julie Green. She was handed the unfortunate task of trying to form one cohesive unit out of a group of talented players that were divided up thanks to the assortment of clubs they all play for during the rest of the year. And she was criticized early on because of the perception that she was hired simply because she was a football coach’s wife.

The younger players on this year’s squad never saw the floor last season, thanks to relegation at the junior varsity level and poor team management.

And they were all so nice. Nice guys -– and girls – finish last. Where was the attitude and the swagger?
I wasn’t the only one that had doubts.

“I never would have expected us to make it this far, and it’s been an awesome experience,” senior libero Meg Reesing said. “I think we all know the season started out pretty rough, and we had to sit down early and regroup. Ever since that happened we have stepped up our game and it’s changed the season.”

Despite flashes of dominance in the season opener against Cedar Park, the Lady Cavs lost the momentum time and again and fumbled away what should have been a win. The talent gap on the floor was obvious. And I remember thinking that I was in for another full season of unfulfilled potential, one that would be frustrating to cover and one that would make any positives difficult to find.

But things changed.

Green was working the players hard in practice, and there was a forged respect and bond between the players and the coach. They played well in the Northwest and Westwood Tournaments, but I remained skeptical. I’d seen the team go through hot streaks last season, and watched them struggle to find a rhythm against teams they should have dominated.

But then they took second at the Hays Tournament. And they never stopped winning. Between Sept. 5 and Oct. 24, they lost just two games. Not matches. Games. Night after night, they came out with a quiet confidence that was undeniable. They celebrated every point with the same excitement. The older players were dominating, and the younger players were making the most of their shot. And it was someone new that starred each night. Heather Leyva, Meredith Murphy, Elissa Underwood, Morgan Hendrix, Taylor Smith and Anna Massey all stepped up on the front row. Reesing became one of the most reliable liberos in Central Texas, spurred by an undeniable confidence that was so much more obvious than just a year before. Lani Durio and Mackenzie Smith gave Lake Travis two premium setters where most teams would kill to have just one. Katie Bonneau and Annie Markovich saw their first varsity action, and not one, but two freshmen found themselves on the floor. Mackenzie Mayo became a great defender on the back row, and Amy Neal stepped up to be Lake Travis’ secret weapon in the playoffs, unflappable in the most intense situations.

But that was the Lady Cavaliers.

It wasn’t that they were too nice. It’s that they were relentlessly positive.

They cured the early playoff exit epidemic with dominating wins over Travis and Boerne Champion, and kept rolling all the way to state. Even knocking off rival Dripping Springs – who had avoided Lake Travis like the plague this season, by the way – in the process.

And Green showed she’s pretty capable of coaching a winner. Never losing focus and always keeping her players prepared, but loose.

Next season, I – along with many other people – won’t have such low expectations for the Lady Cavaliers. Seeing has most definitely been believing.

That’s why Green’s quote after Thursday night’s loss stood out to me.

“This team has set the bar very high. We know how great it is to get here, and we know how much it hurts to lose,” she said. “The expectation level has changed.”

That’s why the loss felt like a victory in a lot of ways. No one will ever look at Lake Travis volleyball the same after this season. Even skeptics like yours truly.

Not bad for a bi-district loser and a football coach’s wife.

And they were fun to follow, and gracious in every way.

Thanks for the ride girls. You proved a lot of people wrong.

Myself included.