The volleyball team kicks off district play Friday at home against Clemens with high hopes as it enters the season in first place with a 17-11 record.

With the start of district play comes the difficult task of facing teams like Clemens, Steele, New Braunfels and the highly-ranked Canyon, who enters the season in in second place with a 20-12 record.

With senior outside hitter Tanyse Moehrig coming off a torn ACL sustained in a January basketball game, and having only played nine total games so far, Coach Patton hopes Moehrig will see more of the court when she feels more comfortable with her performance.

Meanwhile, junior Naomi Ortiz has thrived in her absence. Ortiz has recorded the second most in kills on the team with 102 and kills per game with 1.9.

Standout sophomore middle blocker Bekah Williams leads the team in both kills per game and kills and has blossomed into an all-around player in just her second year at the varsity level.

Returning senior librero Ashley Acuna enters the season with a team-leading 255 digs, including 4.81 per game, also good for best. Defensive specialists Jade Bernal and Jaci Mesa are second and third in digs and digs per game. Junior setter Lily Sandoval leads the team in assists with 235 and averages 4.35 per game.

Patton says there is a different feel about the team this year.

“We are doing a better job of pushing each other and being competitive,” she said, “as well as (having more communication on the courts between the players this year.”