Varsity volleyball falls to Lake Travis in first round

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  • The varsity volleyball team lines up for the nation anthem, Nov. 3. The Raiders played Lake Travis in the first round of playoffs.

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  • The team sings the “We Ready” chant before the match.

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  • Casey Tarvin and Dani Cole go up for the block in the Lake Travis match.

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  • Casey Tarvin, Maegan Anderson, Kathryn Manning, McKenzie Wells, Catherine Smith and Khourtni Thompson cheer on the team from the sidelines.

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  • Coach Jacob Thompson reacts to a play during the Lake Travis match.

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  • Fans cheer on the varsity volleyball team during the Lake Travis playoff match.

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  • Teammate elan McCall comforts senior Sydney Harter after the team’s four set loss to Lake Travis.

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  • Dani Cole with the kill shot.

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  • Teammates Averi Foster, Dani Cole, Maddie Sheehan and Kimberly Christiansen watch from the sideline in the fourth set.

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Leah Lopez, Staffer
November 4, 2015

Varsity volleyball’s season ended Tuesday after falling to Lake Travis in four sets in the first round of playoffs.

At the Burger Center in Austin, the Cavaliers got an early start taking a 7-1 lead in the first set. But the Raiders chipped away at it, closing the gap to 13-11. As the score crept into the 20s, the lead changed hands again and again with the Raiders surviving three set points and tying the score 27-all. Lake Travis pulled off the first set win 29-27.

“It’s always nerve-racking going back and forth,” senior Khourtni Thompson said. “A lot of teams play not to lose, making sure to go all out because the other teams won’t be expecting that.”

In the second set again Lake Travis took an early 6-2 lead. Again, the Raiders kept fighting, narrowing the lead to 12-10. But the Cavaliers went on a winning streak, pushing the lead to 19-13 and then to set point 24-14. The Raiders staved off four set points, but a long serve gave Lake Travis the set 25-18.

“It was tough because we knew we were better than what we were playing,” junior Meagan Anderson said. “We were beating ourselves more than Lake Travis was.”

Trailing 2-0, the Raiders were in a must-win situation. This time, they took an early 8-3 lead in the third set. The girls continued to dominate pushing to a 23-13 lead, but the Cavaliers roared back to cut the lead to 24-22, escaping four set points. The Raiders narrowly took the set 25-23.

“It took us a while to get in the groove of things, but we did improve on the third set,” Thompson said. “We play to win and not to not lose.”

Lake Travis came out strong in the fourth set, taking a 10-5 lead and the Raiders again cut the lead to 12-10. But the Cavaliers continued to press, and pushed ahead to win the set 25-15 and take the match 3-1.

“It was a tough loss, but I feel like we fought hard,” sophomore Dani Cole said. “Even though we came up short in the end I feel like next year will hopefully be a better season and we will make it further into playoffs with the sophomores, soon to be juniors, moving up.”

The team finished 31-17 overall and 11-3 in district. They finished third in district and advanced to the bi-district round of playoffs for the second year in a row. Five seniors played their final game Tuesday night.

“We are going to miss our seniors,” Cole said. “It was a great season playing with them and I wish them luck in college.”