I will go ahead and admit that I have not seen nearly as much Lady Tiger volleyball this season as I normally would. The bride and I took a step away, which means we are no longer wrecking ourselves carrying cases of Dr Pepper, stocking concession stands and filling pickle pops for the bleacher creatures of Tiger Arena. I am not saying I miss lugging drinks around until my back starts filing formal complaints, but it does feel strange not being there for every serve, set and concession stand emergency. Apparently, volleyball matches can continue without Jessica and me knowing whether there are enough nacho trays. Who knew? Life has been busy. We have been trying to tame the work life, keep everything else moving and still make it to Friday night football with a kid who likely has night terrors about forklifts. IYKYK. Somewhere between work, family, football, inflatable tigers, train horns and whatever fresh nonsense shows up each week, volleyball season got rolling without me paying nearly enough attention. So, since I have not been sitting in Tiger Arena pretending I understand every rotation call, I did a little research. I may not know who was supposed to cover the back corner on every point, but I can at least give everyone an honest look at how the season has gone so far. Through the latest confirmed result, the Lady Tigers sit at 11–16. At first glance, that record may cause a few people to raise an eyebrow, but it needs some explanation. Glen Rose played 27 matches in roughly three and a half weeks. That is less of a schedule and more of a volleyball endurance experiment. I get tired just reading it, and I was sitting down. A large portion of those matches came during tournament play against bigger schools and established volleyball programs. Tournaments have a way of piling up wins and losses quickly. You can play three matches before some of us have finished our first cup of coffee, then get up the next morning and do it all over again. By the end of the weekend, the girls have played enough volleyball to qualify for overtime pay. Coach Kelsi Chavez said before the season that this team would be “scrappy and fast,” and that description appears to fit. This is also a young group. Seniors Joryn Dillard and Addison Scholz provide the veteran presence, but much of the varsity roster is made up of juniors and sophomores. That means the Lady Tigers are not only trying to win matches, they are still building chemistry, settling into rotations and figuring out how to respond when things start going sideways. Junior Cailey Harwell entered the season as one of the key returning offensive players after finishing last year with 420 kills, 342 digs and 46 blocks. I generally try not to bury people in statistics because there is a point where numbers begin looking like a tax return, but those numbers tell us something. She can play. The season opened with three straight losses, which is not exactly how anyone draws it up. However, the Lady Tigers followed that stretch with three consecutive wins. That response matters. It would have been easy for a young team to let an early skid grow legs and start running, but Glen Rose stopped it before it escaped the gym. The Glen Rose Invitational gave us another look at what this team can be. The Lady Tigers opened the tournament by sweeping Ranchview, The Colony and Benbrook. They struggled the following day against Shallowater, Lorena and Leon, then came back and beat Shallowater in a rematch before also defeating Legacy Ranch. That may be the best way to describe this team so far. There have been good stretches, rough stretches and moments when they have answered a loss instead of carrying it into the next match. Beating Shallowater after losing to them the day before shows some grit. It is one thing to say you learned something from a loss. It is another thing to see the same team again the next morning and prove it. Outside of tournament play, Glen Rose swept Godley and later picked up a strong 3–1 victory over Midlothian Heritage. The Lady Tigers also pushed Lake Belton to five sets before falling, 3–2. A five set loss still goes into the loss column, but it also shows Glen Rose can stand across the net from a strong opponent and refuse to go away quietly. There have been some tough moments too. The Lady Tigers dropped consecutive matches to Paschal, Lake Country Christian and Peaster, all in straight sets. Volleyball can be a cruel sport when momentum shifts. One minute everything is working, then suddenly the ball is finding every empty spot on your side of the court while your best swing lands six inches outside the line. It is a game capable of making teenage girls, coaches and grown adults in the stands question every decision they have ever made. Once again, though, Glen Rose responded. Following that difficult stretch, the Lady Tigers swept Grandview, 3–0. They did not need a dramatic speech, a calculator or an emergency shipment of pickle pops. They just needed to get back on the court and play better, and they did. The honest assessment is that the Lady Tigers have been inconsistent, but they have also shown what they are capable of when everything comes together. They have swept quality opponents, battled through close matches and recovered from several rough patches. That is what you expect from a young team facing a demanding early schedule. Most importantly, none of those first 27 matches determined the district standings. District play begins September 22 against Stephenville, followed by Brock, Brownwood, Mineral Wells and Graham. Those are the matches that will decide playoff positioning and ultimately shape how this season is remembered. The early schedule has been one long pressure test. Coach Chavez and the Lady Tigers have had plenty of opportunities to identify what works, what does not and what needs to be cleaned up before district. There is no hiding a weakness after 27 matches. If something is broken, somebody has found it, served directly at it and probably celebrated afterward. So no, the Lady Tigers are not steamrolling everybody in front of them. Their record is not spotless, and there have been nights they would probably like to have back. But this does not look like a team that is falling apart. It looks like a young team being built through competition, learning how to recover and preparing for the portion of the season that matters most. I may not have been in the gym enough this year to offer a play by play account or tell you who ate the last pickle pop, but I know enough about Lady Tiger volleyball to understand that you do not judge the entire season before district begins. Glen Rose has already been tested, bruised and forced to respond. Now we get to see what all that early work prepared them to do.