When the moment arrived last winter revealing Pieper High School’s future volleyball district, the occasion was more about the Comal ISD school’s newest opponents and less about whether it could compete against them.

During the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment and reclassification in February, Pieper was elevated from Class 5A to Class 6A and into a district with New Braunfels Canyon, Steele, Clemens, East Central, San Marcos, Judson and Wagner. New Braunfels, Smithson Valley, Boerne Champion, Kerrville Tivy, Alamo Heights and Boerne were the previous district opponents.

Warriors coach Courtney Patton, though, built her program’s foundation on playing the toughest competition available — the bigger the better — with short-term and long-term ramifications.

“I really tried to always give them a tough preseason, regardless of if we’re 5A, 6A, not even an A in our first year,” Patton said. “I feel like the faster you play at that higher level, the better you’re going to be in the season. The idea of going to 6A didn’t necessarily change our opinions, or what we did, or our thought process. We just knew that was the level we were going to have to maintain throughout the season.”

The rigorous schedule, including taking part in the John Turner Classic in Pearland, the Smithson Valley Showdown and its own event, has paid huge dividends.

Pieper outlasted Steele 17-25, 25-16, 28-26, 14-25, 15-11 Tuesday in a District 27-6A showdown.

The outcome of the two-hour match left the Warriors (23-14, 8-1) tied with Clemens (21-16, 8-1) for first place in 27-6A. The teams face off on Oct. 20. New Braunfels Canyon (21-18, 7-2) is a game back, and Steele (23-17, 6-3) is fourth.

On Sept. 12, when the squads met in the first round of league play, Pieper prevailed 25-14, 26-28, 25-13, 12-25, 16-14. The sequel was just as dramatic. In the decisive fifth set on Tuesday, senior Olivia Theis recorded three kills, classmate Emery Gingrich added two and sophomore Reese Driffill chipped in one as the Warriors jumped to an 11-6 advantage. Steele closed within 13-11 on a kill from Eva Harris, but Gingrich and sophomore Ade Eweka notched back-to-back kills to close out the contest.

“I think these big wins help that mindset, no matter how you slice it,” Patton said. “They’re a gritty group of kids. They play for each other; they want to see each other succeed, and that’s really fun. They challenge each other in practice. The wins obviously help with a little bit of the confidence boost.”

Pieper’s determination was perfectly illustrated in the third set. After the teams split the first two sets, Steele — paced by senior outside hitter Sawyer Lloyd (14 kills), sophomore outside hitter Sydnee Coleman (12 kills), senior outside hitter/middle blocker Xeriyah Garner (six aces) and senior libero Addison Moncada (21 digs) — was on the verge of taking control of the contest when it led 24-17 in the third set. The Warriors, however, erased seven straight set points and eight overall for a thrilling comeback decision. Four Steele errors and clutch plays from Driffill, Eweka and freshman Olivia Nickleberry
sparked the rally.

“It’s kind of all, honestly, a blur right now,” Patton said of the third set. “I do remember talking to them, and I was like, ‘You have to believe. You’ve got to have a fire deep down in your belly that says I’m willing to go fight for this.’ I just told them you have to go one ball at a time and see what happens. And then focus on the next one and see what happens. I think when we hit that 20 points, it was kind of like, ‘OK, we’ve been here before. Let’s do this. I think that when it switched for them.”

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