Cinco Ranch has had a strong start to the season.

The reigning Class 6A State Finalists have been learning early in the year. They tested themselves early in the season and that continued this weekend in the Katy ISD/Cy-Fair ISD Volleyball Classic.

The Cougars had a great start to the tournament, winning their first six games over the course of Thursday and Friday and putting themselves into the gold bracket of the tournament with a chance to win it all. Cinco ultimately did not do that, falling to Cy-Ranch in three sets in the semifinals, but rebounded strongly to beat Seven Lakes in two sets 25-22, 25-16 and claim third place out of the 48 teams that came into the tournament. Cinco Ranch head coach Danielle Wells also earned her 300^th career win during the tournament.

“We have a great group of girls this year,” said senior setter Kassie O’Brien. “A lot of them are new, but that doesn’t mean that we are not going to play to our fullest or have lower expectations of ourselves. We’ve just been bringing all of the new girls in and helping them feel welcome and part of this. We need everyone if we are going to accomplish what we want to this year and we’ve all just been meshing as a unit. I think it’s going to be a great season.”

This week was a great test for the Cougars as they inch closer to District 19-6 play. The Cougars swept some of the best teams in the state, including Canyon and Bridgeland on Friday and then didn’t drop a set against Seven Lakes on Saturday after their loss to Cy-Ranch. There were lots of positives to take from the weekend, but more importantly, the strong competition showed Cinco Ranch the areas that where they need to continue to improve and fix.

“When you go against these types of teams you can’t have those little mistakes that you may get away with against a lesser team and that’s what we had to learn this week,” said Cinco Ranch head coach Danielle Wells. “Those have to get better and we have to tighten up on those things. The girls who have experience know that and they’re just trying to get the girls who are new to understand that more. You can’t get away with that against good teams and that’s what we are going to be up against from here on out.”

Cinco sits at 7-3 on the year early on and can carry their positive week into the final week of non-district play. The Cougars close out non-district play against Memorial before going up against Seven Lakes again in just over a week’s time to open district. The Cinco players and coaching staff are confident in themselves and their chances of defending their district title, but they know they have to continue to work and improve to make that happen.

“These girls are already improving so much, even in just a week,” Wells said. “We’ve already started connecting better with our hitters and looking so much better. It’s just bout getting the girls confidence and used to the player next to them. We just have to keep getting better with knowing our roles, knowing our jobs, not trying to do to much and executing that. But we are headed in the right direction.”