PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Junior Madison Morris elevates for a spike during the Lady Badgers' first contest inside the newly built gymnasium. Lampasas won the match against Rogers in four sets. After feeling like guests in their own house for the past week, the Lady Badgers finally feel at home.

Six days after moving out of Bozarth-Fowler Gymnasium and into the new high school campus' athletic facilities, Lampasas defeated Rogers in four sets (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-16) Tuesday evening to christen its shiny new floor.

In addition to improving the team's overall record, the victory served as a housewarming with plenty of visitors attending the first sporting event conducted inside the freshly minted building.

"Now it feels like home, [it] definitely feels like home," head volleyball coach Beth Rutland said. "It was like the start of a new season."

Despite the home-sweet-home feeling after the match, the Lady Badgers got off to a bumpy beginning.

There was not much consistency to start the match for either team, as the visiting Lady Eagles built an 8-4 lead and quickly saw it evaporate when Lampasas made an 8-1 run to claim a 12-9 advantage.

The lead did not last, however, as Rogers responded with six consecutive points, forcing Rutland to call timeout.

Whatever the coach said during the break worked, because the Lady Badgers recorded six of the next eight points before the two squads found themselves deadlocked at 20- 20.

Rogers senior Shelby Sulak broke the stalemate by slipping a kill past a pair of Lampasas blockers and triggering a 5-1 run that was punctuated by Jocelyn Bartmess' set-clinching ace.

The Lady Eagles scored the first point of the second set but never held another lead as Lampasas claimed a 25-23 win to tie the match at one set apiece.

Rogers made several runs at the Lady Badgers during the second set - most notably a 4-1 streak that thwarted three set points after LHS led 23-19 - but could not take control, leaving Rutland impressed with her team's ability to fight off adversity.

"I couldn't be more proud of that because that's been a [trend] for us this season. When we've gotten down, we've kind of stayed there," the first-year coach said. "In the first game, we'd crawl back out [of a hole], and Rogers would get ahead again.

"After we crawled out of that hole to start the second game, they just kept bringing it. There was a lot of intensity. They pushed through it, and they played hard."

Statistically speaking, nobody played harder than senior Sarah Bishop.

The outside hitter was responsible for a team-high 15 kills, including back-to-back scoring spikes that gave Lampasas a five-point, third-set advantage at 21-16.

"She was on fire tonight," Rutland said. "She just played so amazing. The first three games were just solid, and everything she hit was on the floor."

After Jontell Ritz secured a 2-1 lead in the match with her setending kill, the Lady Badgers again found themselves in a slump to start the fourth set.

Senior Lady Eagle libero Eden Williams served up five consecutive winning points, and Lampasas watched the visitors' lead grow to 8-3. Rutland called an early timeout and got her girls back on track.

When play resumed, the Lady Badgers constructed a 16-7 run to take a 19-15 advantage.

Although the game did not end until Lampasas posted its 25th point on the scoreboard, for all intents and purposes it was over on the following play when sophomore defensive specialist Hadley Brown delivered a blistering back-row kill that sent the team into a frenzy.

"Getting a shot to get up and hit one when you're a back row player doesn't always come, and to kill it, that was an exclamation point," Rutland said.

The Lady Badgers (8-9 overall) gave up just one more point before winning the match with a 25-16, fourth-set victory.

One fan remarked the win was far more than just a tick in the win column.

"That's the biggest win in [Lampasas] volleyball history," Lady Badgers head basketball coach Stuart Beckwith yelled from across the gym during an interview with the volleyball coach. "Put that in print."

Rutland agreed her team made a statement.

"It was a signature win," the coach said.

The Lady Badgers will look to repeat the feat today when they leave the cozy confines of their new gym and travel to Rogers for the grudge match. The first serve is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

***

The subvarsity squads split their outings against Rogers.

Coached by Andrea Conley, the freshmen clinched a victory with a thrilling 26-24 win in the final set.

The team won the opening set 25- 16 before the roles were reversed, and they fell by an identical score in the second set. The win improved the freshmen's record to 4-6.

Lampasas' junior varsity team lost in three sets, and its record also stands at 4-6.

Both teams conclude their stint at the Waco Robinson tournament Saturday.