But through it all the Belton Lady Tigers never lost sight of their goal.
"We want to go so far in the playoffs. We want to get farther than last year," setter Brooke Malcik said Tuesday.
Belton gets its chance when it meets Garland Sachse at 6:30 tonight at West in a Class 5A area-round playoff match.
The Lady Tigers (16-23) lost to District 10-5A champion Sachse (30-11) in last year's area round - 25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21 - but can avenge that loss tonight and reach the Region II quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.
To get there Belton will need another monster performance from junior outside hitter Grace Weaver. The area's kills leader hammered and dinked a career-high 35 balls through DeSoto's defense during the Lady Tigers' five-game victory in Tuesday's bi-district match.
"Most high school players aren't able to put the ball where they want. That's why Grace Weaver is such a challenge for other teams defensively," second-year Belton coach Justeen Patton of Weaver, who had 17 kills against Sachse last season. "She can put the ball where she wants to put it and she's smart."
Sophomore Madison McMillan had six of her nine kills in the final two games, Malcik had 45 assists and seven kills and libero Chelsea Lomprey had 19 digs.
Lomprey will be busy tonight trying to dig Sachse junior Marissa Olivares. The Lady Mustangs' 5-9 outside hitter leads the team with 3.4 kills per game and had 22 kills and 11 digs in last season's match.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
