The Lake Highlands High School volleyball team beat Pearce Friday night to clinch the UIL 7-6A Championship.
After beating the Lady Mustangs 3-2 in Richardson for the first time since 2021 earlier this season, Lake Highlands came out on top Friday night in a less competitive match that finished 3-1. With the win, the Lady Wildcats clinched an uncontested district championship — a sought-after victory following last year’s tie with Pearcce.
In a match that finished with set scores of 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20, Lake Highlands recorded 15 aces. Junior Lucy Holmes and senior Elle Holley finished with five and four aces, respectively.
“At their house earlier this season, we won in five, so we knew that this game was going to be a battle,” first-year Head Coach Emily Hubacek said. “There was always that home court advantage. We were able to rely on the atmosphere, rely on our hard work playing them. We did our job, serving and services, and that’s what’s gonna win you games.”
Holley has dominated throughout the season and remains among area statistical leaders in both aces and kills. Hubacek also pointed to junior Hailey Jacobus as another strong point for the squad.
“Elle has been in the outside hitters rotation role most of her career here at Lake Highlands, but Hailey stepped into a new role this year,” Hubacek said. “She’s studying, and did it with so much enthusiasm, because she needed to do it for the team, and those two have been a really key piece to our success.”
Lake Highlands is undefeated in district play and has amassed an overall record of 25-7. The team will play Irving Nimitz and MacArthur in their final two conference games of the season. Last year, the team fell in the second round of the playoffs to Allen.
For Hubacek, the key to continued success lies in staying grounded.
“My girls will probably laugh if they hear me say this, but it’s just not getting complacent. We talk about complacency all the time and just wanting to do the little things right,” she said. “It’s late October, it can be very easy to just fall into a rhythm, but if you want to go places you haven’t been before, you have to do things you haven’t done before.”
