Lake Travis is a team on a mission.
The Cavs team is coming off two instrumental games in the first round of district competition with wins against rivals – Dripping Springs (3-1) and Westlake (3-0). Lake Travis is 35-4 (8-0 in district) with only weeks left in the regular season.
Ninth-year coach Brandace Boren credits her team’s success to the seniors, who have already left their legacy on the court. The Cavs earned a district title last year before reaching the Regional Tournament for the first time since moving to Class 6A.
They would ultimately fall to Dripping Springs in the Regional Final in a heated five-set bout, which made the Cavaliers’ recent win against the Tigers that much sweeter.
“I would say losing to Dripping Springs in the playoffs last year definitely motivated us for the offseason, the preseason tournament season and now district play,” said Boren. “We have some unbelievable seniors who have led the way. There’s a fire in their eyes, and they have that motivation to take back the district and push further.”
Said leaders of the program include Duke-commit Avery Hamlin (Sr. OH), Kacey Kazmierski (Sr. S), St. Edwards-commit Carrington Jaimes (Sr. MB) and sophomore OH Adyson Davis.
In addition to the vast array of talent she has to work with from a coaching standpoint, Boren feels that her past experiences have added onto the well-established winning culture that exists in the Lake Travis program.
“Coming from San Antonio, where you have a lot of smaller players that are fierce and who work their butts off, I like to think that’s given me the chance to bring over that fighting mentality,” she said. “We have several kids who range from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot, and having a defensive mindset has helped us to improve over the years.
“We’re going to be scrappy. We’re going to have a strong work ethic, where we’re going to fight to the end against any team we play. That culture has really taken over alongside the winning mentality that was already here when I got to Lake Travis.”
Considering the momentum the Cavaliers possess, what will it take in order to carry that over into the playoffs?
“Our theme this year for our program is ‘Together We Conquer’,” Boren said. “We’re trying to conquer a mountain, in terms of the competition we expect to face. We have set goals for ourselves in order to get to the peak. As we continue to climb, we’re focusing on the short-term and what we accomplish step-by-step. If we can keep doing that, I know we can find success.”
November is right around the corner. Expect Lake Travis to be in the mix as the State Tournament nears.