Advosports

Coach Jayme Pauley tells her team that they have to play like they want to be at the state tournament.

But in one of the team's recent tournaments, she saw her team lapsing from that. And against a district foe no less.

"They realized, OK, I might have a moment off, but they came together and were like, this is ridiculous," she said. "We know what we are supposed to be doing, we know how it's supposed to look, we've done it a thousand million times, and let's do it now."

And they did, eventually sweeping the match from new District 30-4A foe Gregory-Portland in two sets. She said her message is clear this year to her players: stop for no one.

"You've got to train, and you've got to play everyone like you're playing a state match," said Pauley, who coached at Memorial last season. "If that's where you want to be, then you have to play every team like that. The minute you let up, you're going to play a team that you can't let up on."

Victoria East hopes to use its experience and skill to get to a District 30-4A championship in its first season, making good use of a team that got the majority of the seniors from the split of Memorial after last year.

East's schedule to open up the season wasn't exactly easy, either. The Titans make six road trips to open the season, including tournaments in Corpus Christi, Seguin and New Braunfels, where they are currently participating in the Fraulein Fest tournament.

On top of that, they don't play at home until Sept. 3, when Corpus Christi Flour Bluff visits.

The bonus to all the travel? East has become familiar with its district competition in the tournaments they've played in so far.

They played against Calhoun in summer league and played with many of the West players at Memorial last season.

Add Gregory-Portland and Beeville to that list of teams.

"We played Gregory-Portland, we played Beeville, and they're not very good at all," Pauley said. "So we better be first in our district."

The Titans also have the benefit of knowing each other. The split to East and West wasn't really a split at all; East got eight seniors to West's one. And familiarity and teamwork is the least of Pauley's concerns with this team.

"As soon as they left junior high, they started playing together, and that's a good thing on our side," she said.

It's a valuable trait that isn't lost on the team.

"Most of us are all seniors. We've played club, and we played on JV and freshman all together, so this is our season," said senior middle hitter Kara Frederick. "When we hear that everyone is looking up to us, it gives us a lot of motivation to show that we can do it."

But being completely upperclassmen has given the Titans a sense of urgency, that it's now or never.

"They split it, and, really and truly, one went that way, so we got all the experience," Pauley said. "So we better do well while we still can."

The Titans also have the benefit of strong defensive play, which they feel will be key to their success this season.

"We've worked really hard this year, and we're really excited," said senior Tabby Zella. "We've been working on different plays and a lot of defensive drills. ... Our defense is really solid this year."

The offense is pretty good, too, Frederick said.

"Everyone on the team can pass, all our hitters can get up and swing," she said. "Our two setters are really good. All together, it's overall good at everything we do."

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