The Xavier Gators dominated last season and are doing more of the same this year.

The Gators have a 9-1 record, ranking them second in their region behind the Perry Pumas.

Xavier will play at Perry on Oct. 16.

Gators players and their coach, Lamar- Renee Bryant, have certain standards and goals they set for their team.

“We want to stay healthy and be in it at the end,”  Bryant said. “We want to be the best we can be every time we step on the court.” 

Coming off a three-loss season and winning a state title, some teams may become complacent and think their goal has been reached. They might see that their job is done.

Not Xavier.

The Gators have a way to stay focused on their goal and move forward, win or lose.

A big part of being a successful team is carrying on tradition, and Bryant has a plan for how they carry over from the previous year.

“We set the bar higher each time,” Bryant said. “This is a new team. There’s five girls that weren’t on this team last year.”

Since Xavier won it all last year, setting the bar higher is repeating for a championship.

Reently, the Gators defeated Mesa, 3 sets to 1. Xavier dominated within each set almost blowing out the other team. Yet, Serena Turner, a sophomore, said it wasn’t even the team’s best game and they can play a lot better.

That just shows what standard Bryant holds her team to.

In last year's playoffs, their closest match was against Perry, which was defeated in five sets.

The Gators on this team want to live up to the previous team, which was No. 1 in their section.

Bryant says no matter what they did the previous year, her team takes every year as a new year.

“We take it one day at a time and put one foot in front of the other,” Bryant said.

Xavier will play at Chandler today at 6 p.m.