This senior class at Cinco Ranch has had a special run.

In four years, this class has been a part of four teams that have gone three rounds or deeper in the playoffs, been a part of three teams that have been to the regional final and been a part of a team that has made it to the state title game.

This senior class has been a part of every type of game a Texas high school volleyball player can be a part of, stepped up on the biggest stages and forged a path at Cinco Ranch for future players to follow.

Those seniors were hoping to make more history heading into Friday’s Region III-6A Final against Fulshear, but as hard as the Cougars fought, they weren’t able to find a way past the Chargers, falling to Fulshear three sets to none (21-25, 24-26, 18-25) as the Cougars ended a tremendous year in the fourth round of the playoffs.

“This team meant everything to me this year and I’m just sad we couldn’t keep playing together longer,” said senior setter Kassie O’Brien. “going into this year, we formed a great relationship with each other on and off the court. This group will always have a special place in my heart. We played for each other and that’s what meant the most to me about this team.”

The two teams were locked step for step for most of the game. They went back and forth and were tied all the way up to when both teams had 19 a piece in the first set, but Fulshear pulled away at the end and earned a 25-21 first set lead.

Cinco came back out and took control in the second set and had the lead early on before it once again became a battle of back and forth towards the end. The Cougars got it to 24-23 and had a chance to close out the set, but Fulshear won the next three points to make it 26-24 and with it took a commanding two sets to none lead. Cinco did everything it could to stay in the game through the third set, but was unable to extend the game, falling 25-18 and ending the Cougars season.

“We just struggled to get in a rhythm and traded points back and forth,” said Cinco Ranch head coach Danielle Wells. “We just made too many errors and when you play good teams that can’t happen. Once you get down it’s too hard to make up that gap. We struggled passing and with running our offense and it just was too much to overcome against this team.”

This years senior class for Cinco laid a strong groundwork for the program. They made it to three regional finals and a state championship game and won two straight unbeaten district titles. That class was spearheaded by O’Brien and Gabi Martinez, who put in the work with the varsity squad over four years and became the backbone of the program over the past few seasons.

“Both of those girls grew so much from freshman to senior year and I can’t say enough about them,” Wells said. “Gabi grew so much with the type of shots he could make and Kassie as a leader just became the heart and soul. They both have so much knowledge for the game and they taught these girls how to play the right way.”

The Cougars will graduate 10 seniors this year and a big core that has helped to make them successful. Wells and the team knows there will have to be new players to step up and fill those roles, but she knows the younger players are prepared.

“We’re going to have to wok on a lot of things and girls are going to have to step into bigger roles said. “It’s how things work in this game, it’s a new group every year. But the expectation has been set now. We expect to make the playoffs and then go from there, that’s the foundation to build on.”