The Bearkat volleyball team saw a historic win September 13, defeating The Woodlands High School 3-0. The Bearkats, who were considerable versus the third best team in the state, never gave The Highlanders a chance to answer back, sweeping them after the first three sets.

“We had a pretty positive mindset going into the game,” senior Abbi Chi said. “We didn’t actually think we were going to sweep them though. We thought it was going to be a longer match.”

The Bearkats started the game off on top, winning the first set 25-19. The team continued to keep pressure on The Woodlands, never allowing them to score more than 19 points in any set.

“[After the first set] we just wanted to keep pushing and not stop,” sophomore Gaby Mansfield said. “We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas pedal and just keep going.”

The Bearkats kept their same pace throughout the second set, winning 25-18. Now up 2-0 the, team had a chance to finish the game out in only three sets. Coming into the final set, head coach Kate Zora tried to keep the team focused and calm through all the excitement.

“I was still trying to stay focused,” Zora said. “In the back of my head I was probably like ‘Oh my god are we really gonna do this?’ I kept saying to the team ‘come on kids, let’s go let’s not let them in the door.’ Because there have been times where we’ve played against good teams where it’s like okay, we’re up two to zero, and then all of the sudden we can’t close the door.”

The woodlands took their only lead of the match early in set three, but the Bearkats had no problem closing the door this time, winning the final set 25-18.

“We were all so excited,” Chi said. “We’re all hyped about it, because we beat the third ream in the state. It’s a big deal for us, because Klein hasn’t been able to beat The Woodlands in years, so it’s kind of like we made history.”

By the time the game ended the win almost seemed surreal to some of the players.

“It was just a crazy feeling,” Mansfield said. “It was just such a relief, after all the work we put into film and stuff. It was just a joy. Oh my gosh I can’t believe we did it!”

Zora believes the win serves as a testament to the team’s hard work and motivation.

“This group is confident, focused and driven,” Zora said. “They’re not really intimidated, and I think that’s the biggest part of their mentality. They know that they have to work hard for it and they have to earn it every single play.”

The team has not slowed down since their victory and is still undefeated in district play. As the season progresses, they hope to use the momentum from the win to push through the season and hopefully, far into the playoffs.

“We just want [the win] to be a platform for us to continue to the keep building on,” Zora said. “We want to let it be a springboard for the rest of our season and give us confidence. I think the biggest thing for us is to continue talking and dialoguing and making sure that we understand that we need to keep pushing forward. Now the targets are on our backs because now everybody wants to beat us.”