Senior Kendal Conner attempts to deliver a kill through a pair of Canyon Lake blocks during Tuesday’s dual match at Johnson City. Lampasas dropped the first two sets of both matches and left town with a losing overall record. PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE The Lady Badgers know they can play with desire.

They just need to do it from the opening serve.

Lampasas fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season Tuesday at the Johnson City dual match after losing twice, thanks in part to falling into early deficits.

The Lady Badgers lost the first two sets against both Canyon Lake and host team Johnson City, and could not climb out of either hole.

But they tried.

Lampasas pushed the Lady Hawks to four sets and forced a deciding fifth set against the Lady Eagles before succumbing to the opposition and dropping to 4-5 overall.

It was the Lady Badgers’ fourth consecutive loss, and each began with an opening-set loss.

Outside hitter Tatyana Carnes keeps the ball alive while playing on the back row. “You give the other team a lot of confidence [when you lose opening sets],” Lampasas head coach Beth Rutland said. “That’s huge when you are playing with confidence.

“We can’t go into matches being unsure of what we are capable of. We’ve got to get out there and take the bull by the horns.

“We can’t wait that long to play with that much passion and intensity.”

In the first match of the evening, the Lady Badgers started strong and gained a five-point advantage at 15- 10, but their play quickly spiraled out of control as Canyon Lake scored 20 of the next 24 points spanning into the second set.

“That is completely inexcusable,” Rutland said. “When you look at how they won the points, it wasn’t anything they were doing. It was our errors.

Mariah Jones sets up a teammate during the Lady Badgers’ match against Canyon Lake Tuesday. “Errors passing, errors setting, errors hitting, errors serving; we just gave it away. That is all mental.”

But, with their backs against the wall, the Lady Badgers responded.

Lampasas cruised to a third-set victory by scoring the final 11 points, including an emphatic kill down the right sideline by Madison Morris.

The momentum carried over into the fourth set, as Lampasas constructed a five-point advantage at 11-6 before Canyon Lake went on a 19-11 run to win the match 25-19, 25-15, 13-25, 25-22.

Despite having already played a match, the Lady Badgers displayed their tendencies to start slow once again against Johnson City and immediately fell into a 12-2 hole.

Lampasas pulled to within three points at 23-20 following a 7-0 run, but the Lady Badgers could not recover and lost the first set.

The teams went back and forth in the second set and played to a 23-23 tie before a service error by Tealey Farquhar set up a set point for the Lady Eagles.

Johnson City capitalized on the opportunity and gained a commanding two-set lead.

Then the Lady Badgers showed their determination.

After tying the set at 15-15, outside hitter Hailey Morrison took control of the game by serving eight aces as Lampasas recorded 10 unanswered points to win the third set.

“That happens, and [suddenly] we are emotionally involved in the game,” Rutland said. “It is weird to look back, and then you can go, ‘OK, here’s where they started coming out of it,’ and usually what it takes is us getting a good, solid kill or doing something where we get excited.

“It seems like at the beginning of the games, we wait for that to happen.”

The rally carried over into the fourth set, and the Lady Badgers built a 22-8 lead en route to tying the match at two sets apiece with a 25-17 victory.

In the deciding set, Lampasas denied Johnson City three consecutive match points but could not complete the comeback and lost 25-20, 25-23, 15-25, 17-25, 15-13.

Lampasas looks to snap its losing streak at the Gatesville tournament this weekend.

“I want to see them come out and play from the first serve,” Rutland said. “I want them to come out focused, playing as a team and come out expecting to be in the game and win, and not waiting for the other team to do something first.

“[I want them to play] with the passion, the hustle, the attitude and the confidence they had in the sets we won, but they have to start that way.”

***

The Lady Badgers’ junior varsity team improved to 4-0 at Johnson City.

In the opening match, Lampasas defeated Canyon Lake 25-22, 20- 25, 25-16, 25-17 and continued its winning ways against the Lady Eagles (25-10, 25-10, 25-15).

The subvarsity teams are off until Tuesday, when all three Lampasas squads host Brownwood. The freshman and junior varsity teams will begin play against the Lady Lions at 5 p.m., and the varsity will follow at 6:30 p.m.