As the final whistle blew, heavy hollers rolled out from the student section of Bellaire’s old rivals: Lamar. The undefeated JV Lady Cardinals stepped foot into Lamar High School with a 11-0 record, yet lost two sets at the District Championship game on Oct. 25, allowing the Texans to share the district podium with them. The Freshmen Lady Cardinals also lost two sets, walking away with a final record of 8-4.

Freshman setter Victoria Roberts felt melancholy about the school season ending, but hopeful that the club season will start shortly to prepare her team for the following season.

“I’m kind of sad, but at the same time I get to work on club volleyball too,” Roberts said. “I think our team is going to improve next year.”

After losing a close first set 25-20, Coach Martin’s ladies tried to push during the second set. However, Lamar maintained their momentum and won 24-18 despite a controversial call by the referee on a shot that hit the court boundary.

“I feel very proud of how far the team has come, but also very disappointed in the outcome of this game,” Sophomore middle Maisie Moncrief said.

Moncrief built many friendships within their team at Bellaire and hopes to continue to maintain these connections throughout high school.

“My favorite part of the volleyball program is how connected and close everybody is,” Moncrief said. “We all became friends in freshman year and we just kind of stayed that way.”

After the final set of 25-18 ended, a few of the Lady Cardinals broke into tears as they gathered in for one last photo while placing flowers in their hair, walking out of Lamar feeling nothing but bittersweet.