And the beat goes on for the Lady Tigers

The defending State 6A champions are right in step with the drummer as the Dripping Springs High School volleyball team continues to mow down the opposition, getting ready to take on the powerful competition in District 26-6A.

After taking the title in the prestigious Pearland tourney, the Lady Tigers embarked on another victorious week, including the New Braunfels Fraulein Volleyfest tourney.

Coach Michael Kane has a knack of placing schedules that helps the team out the most. After the Pearland tourney, he had the foresight to schedule Cedar Ridge High School, a scrappy group of players from Round Rock. Something a coach has to worry about after a high intensity streak of playing is a letdown of emotions, causing one of your players to slip up that otherwise wouldn’t have. Cedar Ridge was such a team, and they provided just the type of competition that would sharpen the Lady Tigers. They made the games competitive and kept Dripping Springs honest by leading the Lady Tigers at some point in all three matches — although the Lady Tigers ended up winning 3-0. The scores were 2518, 25-17, 25-19 for Dripping Springs.

Leading team stats: Kills (39): Henley Anderson 12, Riley Certain 7, Eloise Roffers 6. Aces (7): Ella Kuhn 3. Blocks (5): Sydney Lund. Digs (42): Kuhn 14, Lund 9, Anderson 8. Assists (38): Presley Alford 21, Lund 16. Receiving (46): Anderson 19, Avrey Keim 13, Kuhn 12.

The Lady Tigers winning streak of 20 was halted in the semifinals of the New Braunfels tourney when they met district rival Lake Travis and were turned back 2-1. (Of course, it is much better to lose to a district opponent outside of district play than within.)

On the first day, DSHS had 2-0 wins over O'Connor, Arlington and McAllen’s Memorial High Schools. The second day San Antonio’s Clark High School went down 2-1, and Dripping Springs saw 2-0 wins over LaVernia and San Antonio’s Johnson High Schools. The day of the finals, Dripping Springs took San Antonio’s Reagan High School 2-0. They lost to Lake Travis and eased past Rouse High School 2-1 to finish in third place.

Last Tuesday, Aug. 15, the Lady Tigers opened with Del Valle High School in district play. This weekend, they will compete in one of the biggest tournaments in the area: Rouse High School’s Volleypalooza Invitational Tournament.