Burnet volleyball begins season on the road
CAPTION: Junior Brooklyn Dawes sets a ball to a teammate while the Lady Dawgs work on net approach. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School volleyball team will start the 2026 season on the road.
First up is a trip to at Blanco Tuesday, Aug. 11, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 6 p.m.
The Lady Panthers compete in District 25-3A with Comfort, Florence, Ingram Tom Moore and Burnet. They have advanced to the playoffs for 16 consecutive years.
Then the Lady Dawgs will compete in the LGE Varsity Volleyball Tournament Aug. 13-15.
Burnet is entering the week on the heels of scrimmaging Abilene High, Peaster and Stephenville in Stephenville Aug. 8.
Head coach Crystal Shipley was upbeat about her team’s performance, noting they competed to the standards of the program that include “how hard they played.”
“They knew and understood the rotation — where to be and what to do — after very little time practicing it,” she said.
She also was pleased that her players were “getting over errors quickly and not giving up.”
The Lady Dawgs have several returning lettermen including seniors Ava Alexander, Peyton McCabe and Bri Smith, juniors Alexis Clark and Brooklyn Dawes, and sophomores Marisa Porter, Landry Schubert and Taylor Smith. Newcomers are seniors Abby Bennight, Brianne Hudgins and Colbie Watson and junior Kayleigh Briggs.
Needless to say, the Lady Dawgs are not afraid of competition, and this week illustrates that.
The LGE Varsity VB Tournament brings several powerhouse programs ranked in the state. Teams will play at Georgetown, Georgetown East View and Leander high schools.
The Lady Dawgs will compete in pool 4. First up is League City Clear Falls at 3 p.m., old district foe Salado at 4 p.m., and DeSoto Kingdom Collegiate Academy at 6 p.m. all Aug. 13 at East View. Salado is ranked No. 7 in the Class 4A poll of the Texas Girls Coaches Association.
Pool records determine seedings for the second day starting at 9 a.m. The tournament moves to bracket play at 8 a.m. on the final day where teams will be split into gold, silver and bronze brackets based on records.
Shipley has commended her players for their offseason work and wanting to accomplish more in 2026.
“In the offseason, they work at it,” she said. “They want to be great, so that group (the class of 2026), I credit to that because I couldn’t have done it alone. Lots of team bonding, team sleepovers. They did lots of things last year together – they just love each other outside of here.”
