Kendal Conner (3) and Hailey Morrison jump for a block during the Lady Badgers’ win over McGregor at Gatesville’s volleyball tournament. Lampasas finished sixth overall. PHOTO BY RICHARD AKRIDGE The Lady Badgers learned a lot over the weekend.

En route to a sixth-place finish at the 2010 Gatesville Volleyball Tournament, Lampasas discovered it could beat a team it lost to last year.

On the other hand, the Lady Badgers lost to a team they need to beat later this year.

With last season’s near brush with the playoffs still stinging almost 10 months later, Lampasas wanted to make a statement to a team it felt stole an opportunity.

Although it was Marble Falls that technically eliminated the Lady Badgers from the postseason picture by winning a play-in contest, the Lampasas players still remember the one that got away.

On the second night of district play last season, the Lady Badgers lost a thrilling match to Hendrickson by two points in the tie-breaking fifth set.

To this day, Lampasas head coach Beth Rutland points to the narrow defeat as a primary reason her team missed the playoffs.

On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Badgers got revenge.

After dropping the first set, Lampasas rebounded to win the next two and advanced to the tournament’s fifth-place game with a 20-25, 25-20, 25-21 victory.

“Any of the kids in the program knew what that game meant last year, and they were pretty excited to go up against them,” Rutland said. “We played the game of our lives against Hendrickson [Saturday].

“We wanted to prove where we’ve come from because that was the first measuring stick from the past [we’ve encountered this year].”

Unfortunately, the primary reason Lampasas was pitted against the Lady Hawks was because it lost to new district rival Salado Thursday.

After earning straight-set victories over McGregor (25-9, 25-12) and Jarrell (25-21, 25-22) to begin the tournament, the Lady Eagles dealt Lampasas a crushing blow by securing the opening set after surging back from a five-point deficit, 11-6, to win 25-21. During the run, Salado’s solid serving sent the Lady Badgers spiraling.

“I had to call two timeouts while [Salado’s setter] was serving,” Rutland said. “I looked at [assistant coach TyAnna] Tuck at one point and told her, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had to use both of my timeouts during one service run.’

“It just fell apart after that.”

Lampasas lost the second set 25- 10.

With a day to recover from Salado and to prepare for Hendrickson, the Lady Badgers returned to Gatesville Saturday and put on their most impressive performance of the season, according to Rutland.

But the emotional toll from the rematch with Hendrickson proved too draining.

In the fifth-place match against China Spring, Lampasas fell hard.

The Lady Cougars pounced on their opponents early and won the match in two sets 25-13, 25-19.

“I guess what goes up must come down,” Rutland said. “We just played completely uninspired.”

Salado finished second in the 24- team tournament after losing to Gatesville (23-25, 25-20, 25-23), while Rogers beat Temple 25-16, 25-22 to place third with China Spring and Lampasas following.

“It was nice to walk out of there saying, ‘Hey, we played for something worthwhile,’ but it was bittersweet because we felt we should have won that fifth-place trophy,” Rutland said.

Lampasas middle hitter Madison Morris was one of a dozen players named to the all-tournament team. In five matches, the senior totaled 29 kills, including eight against McGregor.

“She is one of the triggers that gets us started,” Rutland said. “When she hits one of those kills that leaves a hole in the floor, it really gets everybody fired up and playing hard. We feed off of her.”

Another bright spot for the team was the play of junior Whitney Cauthen. The defensive specialist thrived behind the service line during the tournament, delivering eight aces and serving 32 of 34 during the five matches.

“We changed our rotation, and now she’s in a spot where she is serving, and she’s just mentally in the groove,” Rutland said. “I’m really pleased with her.”

The Lady Badgers (7-7 overall) play their third home match of the season tonight when they host Brownwood at 6:30 p.m. Lampasas’ freshman and junior varsity teams both begin play against the Lady Lions at 5 p.m.