The Lampasas varsity volleyball team opened their district season  Friday Sept. 21 with a game against Salado. The Lady Badgers, currently playoff bound, hold a 5-16-1 record and are tied with Liberty Hill for third in the district.

“Based on the past seasons, we’ve done a whole lot better,” sophomore Olivia Zmolik said. “We’ve improved throughout the years, mostly because we’ve each been working on our individual skills.”

Varsity volleyball began on August 4, kicking off the season well before the school year started. The Lady Badgers are now a little over halfway through their season, and have already begun their district games.

“I’m nervous for district, but a good kind of nervous,” senior Sena Kucukkarca said. “It’s always nerve-racking to go into district because of the high stakes, but I’m excited. I think finally getting a Lampasas team into the playoffs for volleyball after not going for a long time would be huge. For me, it would be a confirmation of all of the hard work me and the girls have put in, and that is was all worth it.”

The varsity volleyball team finished with a 6-27 record last year, and an 0-21-1 record the year before. The Lady Badgers are only two wins shy of beating their past season, showing signs of improvement in the program.

Head coach Denise Ponder has led the Lady Badgers since 2016, and each season has statistically shown to get better and better. Coach Ponder is aided by assistant coaches Drew Cleavinger and Kiff Wiemers, who  coach the JV and freshman volleyball teams.

The Lady Badgers will host the Liberty Hill Panthers this Tuesday. The freshman and JV teams will play at 5:00 and varsity will play at 6:00.