Fresh off the team’s best ever finish at the Westwood Showcase, Lake Travis (16-2, 0-0) traveled to the Ft. Worth Justin Northwest tournament last week and took a second consecutive gold bracket second place finish.

After rolling through the first six matches of the tournament without dropping a game, Lake Travis took on 4A No. 1 Canyon Randall in the championship match. This year’s Randall squad includes three starters from last year’s state champion Hereford team, and by all accounts, is just as good as that Hereford squad.

The match was quite a battle, too.

“It was back and forth, and they had two rotations where they got four or five points in a row in the final game. It was the only time during the match they went on a run like that, and it cost us,” Lake Travis head coach Julie Green said. “When we control serve receive, we control the game. And we couldn’t keep up in that one through two rotations. It wasn’t our defense or setting, it was just an inability to sideout and get past a rotation.”

Lake Travis lost, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19, but had another successful tournament in Green’s eyes.

“The kids had played well, progressively better each game,” she said. “They played by far the most competitive game of the tournament in the finals. Randall had some of the same strengths as San Antonio Reagan, who we lost to at Westwood. It was a big blocking team with a very good serve receive and was just balanced all around. It was difficult for us to find a rotation to put the ball down. But it was still a great battle and there were great rallies in that match.”

The six teams Lake Travis topped on the way to the final were Santa Fe (25-10, 25-10), Hereford (25-19, 25-13), Belton (25-12, 25-17), Dumas (25-18. 25-22), Mesquite Poteet (25-17, 25-22) and Justin Northwest (25-19, 25-15).

For their efforts, three Lady Cavaliers received special recognition at the end of the tournament.

First, Morgan Hendrix was named to the all-tournament team.

“She’s a competitor. When it comes down to getting a sideout or game point, she wants to be on the court at the end of the game to make the play,” Green said. “Her energy level is so high and she loves to complete. She knows how to raise our level of play at key moments. She played really well this tournament.”

Amy Neal was named the offensive player of the tournament.

“Amy does her thing. She just does what she does,” Green said. “She can hit from any spot on the court, she can tool off a block and she frustrates a lot of teams. At the end of the game, we’re going to put the ball in her hands, too. She’s a gamer.”

Mackenzie Mayo was named defensive player of the tournament.

“She’s the leader on defense and serve receive, so when we do well, a lot of that is because of her leadership,” Green said. “She played really well, particularly in the last two games, and she just kept making play after play against Randall’s big hitters.”

It was another successful tournament and strong finish, making this one of the most successful pre-district schedules in program history. And there’s still a tournament left.

“I would say the difference is our expectations,” Green said. “I’m not sure at the beginning last year we expected to be so good so early. This year, that has changed. We’ve gone into every tournament expecting to win it all, and we’ve spent the entire year solidifying the core group. We’re just clicking earlier this year because of experience together.”

The subvarsity Lady Cavaliers have been strong out of the gate, as well.

Against Cedar Park the 9th A  team lost, 25-21, 25-18, but the two teams were neck and neck for the first game until Cedar Park put down three straight kills. It was a good passing game by Katie Eaton, Lauren Feeley, and Sherra Mershon.

In game two, the Lady Cavs let it get away early.  They made a big push to get the score to 12-10, but then had a meltdown.  Another furious rally with Abby Weidenbach serving six straight points helped, but Lake Travis could not sustain the job.

The 9th B team won, 15-25, 25-18, 25-17. Katie Dash dominated game three in a come-from-behind victory.

The junior varsity kept the momentum going with another win, 26-24, 25-22.

They hung on for the win in game one and followed up with a strong game two to win the match. The girls played hard and were able to push through some early season miscues. The match was highlighted with aggressive offensive and some great defensive plays as well.

Coaches felt it was a great start to the season and the team will go into practices the rest of the week looking to improve in the areas it struggled.

At Westwood, the 9th A team won 25-13, 25-18.

In game one, the Lady Cavs played great team defense.  Maddy Hagy had five blocks for kills.  The team had no service errors, and Eaton and Mershon made many good passes and digs.

In game two, the team fought hard in the come-from-behind victory. Some poor defense tightened up a bit in the end of the game to secure the victory.

The 9th B team also won, 25-17, 25-10.

Mariah Oshana played awesome defense, according to coaches, leading the black team to their second victory.

The junior varsity did their part, as well, winning 13-25, 25-13, 26-24.

The team dropped the first game but fought their way back in game two and three for the victory. Shelby Leyva and Claire McCown led the team in kills.

Defensive highlights came from Madison Phillips and Kilby Bench. Marissa Ochoa helped the cause with four aces.  The junior varsity is now 2-0 this season and hopes to continue the trend.