On the surface, the Reagan High School volleyball team might appear to lack components that could be viewed as vital to success.

The Rattlers, by and large, are young and inexperienced. And they don’t have an imposing front line that would cause opponents to tremble in fear. Age, wisdom and height have seemed to become integral in a sport that is ever-changing.

What Reagan does possess — grit and relentlessness — might have been the difference in the outcome of a District 28-6A showdown on Friday at Taylor Field House.

The Rattlers shook off a first-set loss and roared past Brandeis 21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 in a contest with the intensity befitting its importance.

Reagan (25-10, 7-1) moved into a tie with Brandeis (24-11, 7-1) for first place in district at the halfway point of league competition.

“I just think we play with a lot of heart and determination, and that’s something you can’t coach,” Reagan senior libero Ady Perez said. “We just continue to grow each day. We have goals and we just continue to reach them.”

Junior Mya Allen was instrumental in the Rattlers winning their 12th straight match. The high-flying outside hitter racked up 26 kills, a performance made even more impressive considering she played despite losing a nail on one of the fingers of her dominant hand.

“Tape it up and play,” Allen said. “You’ve got to be ready. They’re a great team and everything, but we all came here ready to play, and we wanted to be No. 1 in district.”

Reagan showed its resiliency. While Allen led the way, she got solid contributions of offense from teammates Lauren Garcia, Kat Combs, Rylee LaGrange and Bree Velonis.

“I just think it comes a lot from our upperclassmen leadership and how we hold everyone to just as high of expectations as if they were seniors,” Perez said. “It’s everyone doing their part and that’s contributing to a lot of our wins.”

Brandeis, which dealt with inconsistency issues earlier in the season, had found a groove in piecing together an eight-match winning streak entering Friday’s contest. It appeared as if that success would continue after outside hitter Lola Isaeff and middle hitters Austin Smoak and Sophia Kuyn paved the way to triumph in the opening set. Isaeff, a junior, had a team-high 20 kills.

The Broncos, though, lost steam late in the second set and never quite recovered.

“We all didn’t show up as a team and we played as individuals, and I think that showed on the court,” said Brandeis senior libero Lola Davila, a Texas Tech commit who had 27 digs. “Once they started getting a couple of points and going on their runs, we decided to sit back and just kind of let them go with it. We didn’t fight back, and we’ve been doing that.”

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