Volleyball

year we played a team we felt like we definitely could have beaten, but we weren’t all there mentally. On the court we knew we were better, but we just couldn’t seem to pull it together.

“We’ve been working on finishing and beating teams we haven’t beaten before.”

This year, Cedar Creek, which joined 19-5A in 2016, defeated Cedar Park for the first time, in five sets. A year ago, the Timberwolves played for the Class 5A state championship, fall

ing to Amarillo in four sets. “When I was a sophomore I heard we were moving to a new district. We played Cedar Park in the playoffs one year and we were like, ‘Now we have to be in the district with them and it’s going to be super tough.’” Townsend said. “We real- ized we’re just going to have to buckle down own it. This year we beat Cedar Park, which was one of our goals.”

While Townsend plans to attend UT-Arlington, her senior teammate Rebecca Buell, a libero, has commit- ted to UT-Tyler.

At UT-Arlington, Townsend will join a program led by J.T. Wegner, who was a member of UCLA’s men’s national cham- pionship runner-up in 2001.

“Their coaching style is just what I was looking for, personally,” said Townsend, who also considered Buck- nell, Army, Nicholls State, Houston Baptist and Radford. “Every coach had a different coaching style, and I just love the environment at UT-Arlington.”

“It was an interesting and difficult process,” said Curtis Townsend, Brooke’s father. “When the recruiters came calling, you never knew if they really liked you. You have to learn to temper your excitement. She was looking for energy, coaching and excitement. UT-Arlington was a good fit.”

Langman believes the Eagles are playing their best volleyball at the right time.

“This year was kind of a mystery,” Langman said. “People were writing us off because we lost one of our outside hitters from last year. We made some moves with some of our kids, and they grasped it wholeheartedly. Brooke is having a breakout season. No doubt she’s a talented player, but they work together really well as a group.”