After ending a 30-match district drought a year ago, the Brownwood Lady Lions volleyball program looks to take the next step under second-year head coach Kristen Grimes - reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

The first step on that journey begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as the Lady Lions host the Early Lady Horns - a Class 3A playoff squad from a year ago - in the season opener at Warren Gym, part of a much tougher pre-district slate as Brownwood prepares to make a push for the postseason.

"That was intentional," Grimes said of the pre-district slate.