It’s the last match and varsity only needs to score one more time to beat their long standing rivals, the Aledo Lady Cats.

The ball is served.

“It felt like a dream,” head coach Alysha Humpert said. “It felt like the best dream possible.”

Freshman Logan Browning makes a pass to her twin sister Devon who then sets it to junior Lauren Wright.

“It was such a proud moment for them,” Humpert said. “It was so surreal.”

Wright hits the ball hard. Cheers erupt in the gym as the ball shanks off the other team’s right side hitter. They win the game.

This year, the varsity volleyball team beat Aledo, #8 in the state, and won the Area Championships.

“It was pure joy watching them all play with their best ability all season,” Humpert said. “They were always willing to learn and be coachable. They were constantly getting better, every match, every tournament.”

Humpert said her level of expectation for the girls in her program is always high whether it’s tucking their shirts in, getting good grades or being kind to others.

“You’re only as good as your lowest man,” Humpert said. “There’s no grey area for them. It’s either right or wrong, you’re either on time or you’re late.”

The girls are used to the high expectations their coach has for them, senior Sydney Lauck said.

“She teaches us discipline,” Lauck said. “If we don’t do something right, we may have a consequence with it, and that’s how it is in the real world.”

Humpert’s goal for the program is not to worry about the wins or losses, but to focus on the girls’ characters.

“My goal is to never lose sight of teaching the girls how to be ladies, how to have respect and how to be disciplined,” Humpert said.

After graduating eight seniors last year, it took a little bit of time for the girls “to click and see what they could do together,” Humpert said.

“This group was really fun to watch mature and grow,” Humpert said. “To see them lose at pre-season to Henrietta in the Burk tournament and then coming back to make it to regional quarter-finals was pretty impressive.”

Junior Sophie Luig said that although the sport takes a lot of time and effort, it all pays off when “you win a match for your whole team.”

“I know not all these girls are going to go on to play college; I know that,” Humpert said. “But we want them to learn life lessons from the program, whether it’s work ethic, being on time, or just having pride for whatever you’re doing. Just because you’re not going to go play college, doesn’t mean that you can’t give 110 percent.”