Kayli Arizpe and Falon Holland team up to block an attack by Brownwood's outside hitter during Tuesday's loss. Head coach Tracey Myers points to a lack of practice as a cause of the team's current losing streak. Lady Badgers volleyball coach Tracey Myers has a lot of work ahead of her, both on and off the court.

After giving Brownwood a run for its money in the first and second sets of Tuesday's match, Lampasas simply ran out of gas in the third, falling 25-13, 25-21 and 25-6 at Bozarth-Fowler Gymnasium.

Despite the thumping in the third set, however, Myers has yet to run out of patience with her girls who are now 0-11 on the season.

"I was very proud of their first two ballgames," said the coach. "They played hard, and they fought hard. In the third ballgame, we had a little mental letdown, and I think after playing so hard in the first two ballgames they just didn't have anything left.

"I told them I didn't fault them for that, but that was something we were going to work on together as a team."

Lampasas was overpowered from the Lady Lions' opening serve and fell behind by seven points at 13-6 before outscoring Brownwood 7-3 in an offensive spurt.

PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Junior Sam Gauna gets low for a forearm bump as teammates look on during Tuesday's match against Brownwood. The Lady Lions responded by scoring nine consecutive points to end the set.

In the second set, the Lady Badgers rallied from a 9-5 hole to tie the score at 19-19 before they allowed the comeback attempt to slip through their fingers.

Lampasas then opened the third set by falling behind by 16 points at 19-3.

"If we don't get out to a quick start, our eyes get real big and we're thinking, 'Oh, my gosh,' and they tighten up,"

Myers said of her players. "When we have a strong start, we relax and play, and it showed the first two ballgames."

Unfortunately, playing hard is no longer sufficient encouragement for the players who, according to Myers, are at a point where they desperately need a victory to rebuild the confidence lost during the current losing skid.

Perhaps more important than a win, the girls need to practice.

In the two weeks prior to Tuesday's match, Myers said her squad practiced just once -- last Monday -- and competed in five matches and two tournaments.

"As school starts, it's easier because we practice Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and play games on Tuesday and Friday," she said.

In addition to having the ability to hone certain skills and properly address problem areas, like reading the hitter's body language, regular practices also will assist the girls to become a cohesive unit.

"We just haven't learned to read the hitter very well," Myers said. "I tried to tell them [to look] where she was going and to cheat in that direction and when they did, they stopped them."

The Lady Badgers are in Waco for the Robinson Tournament, where they began play on Thursday and will conclude Saturday.

"We have to finish what we started tonight in Waco," Myers said.

"We're going to tweak a few things in practice and whenever we hit whoever we hit in the pool games, we'll be ready for them."