You get the feeling the Llano High School volleyball team will play more games this season than the Utah Jazz. As of Aug. 23, it had a record of 6-5--and the school bell hadn’t even rung!

Since the last edition of the newspaper began filling scrapbooks throughout the Hill Country, the Lady Jackets had their final summer fling in Gatesville and went 2-2.

“We played okay against Harker Heights (Class 5A),” head coach, Shawn Sweeten, said. The result on Aug. 21 seemed better than okay as Llano won, 27-25 and 25-13 in a best-of-three match. Allie Rostron led with nine kills while Katie Yeager had 20 assists.

The second foe was Salado, which possesses 2A enrollment and an “excellent” volleyball contingent according to Sweeten. The Eagles were victorious, 25-15, 20-25 and 25-16. Libby Moore came up with 14 digs while Kirstie Roark added 10--Yeager contributed 21 assists.

“We played well, dug well and counter-attacked against a good team,” the coach announced, despite the setback.

Before we return to the win column, Sweeten wants everyone to close their blue books and just listen for a moment. “We have to find a way to step up and start believing in ourselves,” she stated. “This sport defintely involves the mental approach and momentum is a huge factor. If you get it going as a team, you’ve got to keep it going.”

The anxiety level is obviously growing within the 1989 All-American player at UT-Arlington. The Jackets open district play at home against mighty Wimberley, Tuesday, Sept. 2. Other talented teams will follow including Liberty Hill which plays the role of the villain in our next act.

“We played the first four points well,” Sweeten says of the encounter with the Panthers, Aug. 23, in Gatesville, “but then we just shut it down. It looked like there was a lot of fear in our eyes. I feel we can stay on the court with anyone, so this effort was disappointing.”

Liberty Hill prevailed, 25-14 and 25-20. Before this loss, Llano had opened the day with a 25-11, 25-19 victory over Killeen Shoemaker, but Sweeten wasn’t overwhelmed with the intensity shown in this engagement. Kelley Bradley, Tejana Lanford and Moore all had five digs while Rostron supplied 11 kills.

Sweeten’s Philosophical Talk: “If we make errors because we’re scared, I don’t get angry with the kids because I don’t want to exacerbate that, but I do get confused. I want to get into their heads to take away that feeling of fear and replace that with the knowledge that they can do it. Our girls have worked really hard, and they’ve done what they’re supposed to do to put themselves in a position to win.”