The volleyball team will play District 10-5A co-champion Prosper High School (33-8 overall, 13-1 district) in the first round of playoffs 7:00 p.m.Tuesday at Lewisville High School. As the third seed in District 9-5A (22-14 overall, 11-5 district) the team will be facing off against one of the top teams in the area.

“What a great challenge,” head volleyball coach Ui Womble said. “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. It’s a great chance for us to step up and play some really good volleyball.”

Tuesday match is a rematch from of last year’s first round of the playoffs. Losing 3-0 to Prosper in 2014, the team hopes for a different ending this time.

“We’re going to have to come out fighting really hard from the beginning,” junior Delaney Lewis said. “We can’t wait to play. It’s going to take all of us to work together, communicate, and maintain a positive mindset the whole time.”

The team faced adversity in the beginning of the season but has improved since then, becoming just one of three district teams to win more than 10 games in District 9-5A play.   

“We had a lot of mental issues in the beginning of the season,” senior Rachel Rhoades said. “I believe we overcame those. As a whole, we had to work together and trust each other to get better.”

The coaching staff has been preparing the girls for a game like this for more than a year, using off-season workouts such as “War Wednesdays”, to test the team’s mental and physical strength.

“We try really hard to make our off season challenging,” Womble said. “The strategy is to make the workouts uncomfortable so when they get into game time, it’s nothing they haven’t seen before.”

Winning in the playoffs is never easy, especially against a state ranked team. However the girls have done their work.

“We watched film to get more insight on players,” sophomore Kate Blasingame said. “But in the end, we just need to work hard.”

One thing that could make the difference is fan support. With all playoff games held at neutral sites, a friendly crowd could be a game changer.

“I’m confident we can get out there and win our game Tuesday night,” Womble said. “We’d love to see people in the stands. Our kids love it when their friends and classmates get out to support them. The more people the better because [Prosper] always have good fan support.”