The Brownwood Lady Lions secured their first two district volleyball victories since 2021 in head coach Kristen Grimes’ initial campaign, and the second-year goal of returning to program to the playoffs, also for the first time since 2021, kicked into high gear with Monday’s first workouts of the season.
Grimes recapped the day, starting with the morning session at Gordon Wood Stadium
“We started with a pretty challenging run test for conditioning this morning,” Grimes said. “Overall we didn’t have as many pass the test as I would have hoped, but everyone completed it. That was good because it is pretty challenging if you’re not working on it throughout the summer. Overall, we were pleased with the effort and the kids actually finishing.”
The Lady Lions then returned to Warren Gym for a two-hour practice in the afternoon.
“In practice, we did a lot of ball control,” Grimes said. “We’re focusing on that so we did a lot of that today. I saw some good things and saw some things that need some improvement. We had a lot of talking and a lot of communication. We talked about our non-negotiables – which are our attitude, our communication, and our effort – when they come into the gym, and making sure they’re locked in.”
Regarding what stands out most about this edition of the Lady Lions early on, Grimes said, “This is an athletic group and we’re hustling more than we did last year. We have an expectation to go all out and not let balls drop, and that’s a big change from last year. That was something we had to drill into them last year, and we started getting to that point at the end of the season, so we’re definitely starting in a better spot this year in terms of our pursuit and relentless effort.”
The Lady Lions head to San Angelo Central Friday for a trio of scrimmages that begin at 9:45 a.m. against host Central, Ballinger and Abilene Wylie.
