Shoes? Check.

Knees pads? Check.

Water bottle and hair ties? Check and check. Ready to defend district title? Of course.

Everything that is needed for a good practice is good to go.

Walk into Tomball’s main gym and for a moment your ears are badgered by the high-pitched squeaks coming off of the courts as volleyball shoes are rubbing against them. Your ears quickly become accustom to the squeaks and then voices of the girls yelling “Mine! Mine! Mine!” quickly becomes apparent while they have their partners setting balls up for them.

The bisque conversations that were made among the ladies during a short water break were usually along the lines of “Two-a-days. Fun” and “This is so tiring” followed laughter. Soon the metronome that was created by all the hitting, players hitting the balls and balls hitting the ground is silenced.

Squeaking increases. Ponytails sway. Breathing gets heavier.

2010 volleyball season gets closer.

“The ladies are going to work their hardest to defend their district title,” Head coach Cheri Wallace said. “Another goal is not only making the playoffs but pushing further into them.”

Last season Tomball had a playoff berth but lost at bi-districts to Oak Ridge. Tomball had 8 seniors leave some of which included Courtney Moye, Laura Devlin, Courtney Miller, and Brooke Hooper.

This year’s hopeful road to the playoffs will be in the hands of seniors Allison Beavers, Sarah Temperelli, and juniors Roxanne McVey and Caitlin Diaz.

“I believe in these girls and we definitely are going to play our hardest to win district,” McVey exclaims.

Camaraderie runs through-out the Lady Cougar volleyball team. It’s quite obvious when hearing the “cheer-ons” and humorous remarks made on both practices courts. It’s a team effort this game and having good chemistry on and off courts significantly improves the performance of the players. “The girls, our team. We rock!” wasn’t a surprising response from some of the girls when asked “What keeps you to keep coming back and doing better than the previous season?”

Volleyball season is now, and “we’re ready to destroy. We’re going to make the opposing teams cry.” junior Hannah Jones said.