PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Varsity newcomers Kendal Conner (3) and Hailey Morrison (5) team up for a block against Harker Heights. Lady Badgers' head coach Beth Rutland is always up for talking about her team, but after Tuesday night's road victory over Shoemaker that kept Lampasas' early unblemished record intact, she needed a second to recover before beginning.

"Whew, they take my breath away," the coach said.

Once Rutland regained her wind, she had plenty to say about her squad that opened the 2009 season with wins over Harker Heights and the Lady Grey Wolves after going winless through their district schedule last year.

"They're coming together," Rutland said. "We had some rough moments tonight, but we pushed through it and made things happen.

"It's tough to walk in on someone else's court and feel unfamiliar. The home team always has the advantage with the home fans, but when it was time to get after it and bring the energy, they found it. We're very excited about coming out and getting two victories."

Senior Sarah Bishop gets low for one of her four opening- night digs against the Lady Knights. Not only does the team already have a pair of checks in the win column, but the Lady Badgers have yet to lose a single set, knocking off the Lady Knights 3-0 inside LHS' Bozarth-Fowler Gymnasium before hitting the road for a straight-set victory over Killeen Shoemaker.

Lampasas opened the season with a bang Monday night behind solid play from senior outside hitter Sarah Bishop who recorded a team-high tying 10 kills to go with five aces. Jontell Ritz also posted 10 kills in the match, and junior Madison Morris finished with seven.

In all, the Lady Badgers had 37 kills on opening night and only eight errors.

The offense would not have been as successful, however, without an all-around defensive effort. Led by newcomer Hailey Morrison (10 digs) and libero Sam Gauna (10 digs), Lampasas ended the night with a whopping 53 digs.

Senior Jacqueline Hensley added seven digs of her own.

"We had some amazing digs and we'd turn around and just play lights out," Rutland said. "We had a hitter block, we dug it up, and we killed it; point made, the Badgers are here."

PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Libero Sam Gauna prepares to return a serve. The Lady Badgers set the tone for the night early against Harker Heights as they won nine of the final 14 points to take a 25-16 firstset victory.

In the second set, Lampasas trailed by four points, 16-20, but went on a 6-1 run punctuated by Ritz's back-to-back kills.

Harker Heights kept things close, but the Lady Badgers took the set 25-23 as the Lady Knights recorded three consecutive errors to give Lampasas the win.

The third set proved to be tougher, but the home team took the set 25-20 after Harker Heights closed to within one point at 21-20.

"Every time we had a moment where there was a fork in the road, we took the fork that said 'Go finish it,' and we did," Rutland said.

Twenty-four hours later, the Lady Badgers were back on the court, facing the larger 5A Shoemaker in their gym.

The location did not matter, however, as Lampasas cruised to a 25-17 victory in the opening set.

While the official score showed it was an eight-point win, the reality was that it was slightly larger as the Lady Badgers mysteriously lost a point early in the set, and Shoemaker gained one.

Luckily, points were easy to come by for the road team.

Bishop once again led Lampasas offensively, recording 10 kills and serving up four aces. Junior Kendal Conner broke out as well, posting five kills as the Lady Badgers won the second and third sets by identical 25-20 scores.

The kills would not be possible without the play of setters Mariah Jones and Hensley. First-year varsity player Jones assisted on 23 points during the two matches, while senior Hensley had a combined 34.

The Lady Badgers began a threeday stint at the Clifton Tournament Thursday. They return to Bozarth- Fowler Gymnasium Monday evening for a home match against Llano.

***

While the varsity Lady Badgers opened their season with a pair of victories, the subvarsity squads were not as fortunate.

The junior varsity team lost its opener in straight sets to Harker Heights before falling in a deciding set to Shoemaker.

After a 25-18 second-set victory tied up the match against the Lady Grey Wolves, Lampasas lost control late in the third set, giving up nine consecutive points and fell 25-17.

The freshmen also lost their home opener 2-0.

Both the JV and the freshman teams return to action Monday evening against Llano.