Hixson's objective for entering a high school volleyball tournament as big and prestigious as the Tennessee Tandem this weekend is to build for the future.
With no seniors in 2010, perhaps that could be next season. Perhaps it could be sooner.
"We hear a lot of talk about that. Why wait?" Hixson coach Janet Tate said. "These guys played a lot last year. It would be great to make it to region this year. We haven't done that in a while."
The Lady Wildcats ended up in the Silver bracket after pool play and fell to Chattanooga Christian in their first match. Despite not winning a match, Tate's team was given praise for its improved play.
"According to the coaches we played, we're the most improved team in town," Tate said. "We seemed to be able to win a lot of first games, but we couldn't finish anyone off. We'll work on that."
Karns of Knoxville, which downed Walker Valley 2-0 in the semifinals, defeated Murfreesboro Riverdale 22-25, 25-21, 15-11 in the Gold-bracket final Saturday at GPS. Signal Mountain beat Boyd-Buchanan 22-25, 25-21, 15-13 in the Silver-bracket final at Ooltewah.
Being a Class AA team with a 10-14 record entering a tournament where 18 of the 30 additional teams were either Class AAA or large Division II schools, the Lady Wildcats had to know they were considerble underdogs. But guaranteed to play at least seven matches, they also knew this was an opportunity to learn some things and get tougher before district tournaments get the state playoffs started.
"A team this young needs to play and needs to play a lot," Tate said of her squad comprised of three juniors, 11 sophomores and three freshmen. "We like playing up. The Ooltewahs and the Walker Valleys make us a lot better defensively. They have big hitters. We have to learn not to be afraid of the ball.
"I like this group. They work really hard for me."
Tate said no seniors doesn't mean no leadership. Junior and leading hitter and blocker Katie Ware is the vocal leader and loves the game.
"I knew I had to be a leader coming into this season, so last year I kind of started preparing myself for it," Ware said. "Playing junior Olympic volleyball in the summer really helped."
Tate affectionately calls Chance Davis and fellow sophomore setter Kaleigh Riley her "quarterbacks" because they direct the offense. Davis embraces that term.
"I think it's a good thing," Davis said. "It shows we have leadership at a young age."
Davis leads in assists, and she and Riley are among the team's top servers. Sophomore Ashley Knudtson is the leader in digs, and Ciera Taylor has cracked the starting lineup as a freshman.
With everyone expected to return next season, Ware said she has hope of Hixson earning a state-tournament berth. She'll no doubt encourage her teammates to follow that ambition, but to revisit what Tate said, "Why wait?"
Ware said the passing and serving has improved tremendously since the beginning of the year. Davis said if Ware can get help with improved net play from capable teammates in the next few weeks the team could profit even more.
There's another postseason to come before the 2011 one.
"We have goals in mind," Davis said. "We want to win our district and go to state. We're all sophomores and a couple of juniors. Next year we should be amazing. Hopefully this year we will be, too."