She was even less certain about how it would fare throughout the whole season. Seven seniors who had led the team to a 68-4 record over the past two seasons – with two of those losses coming in state championship games – have since graduated.

Yet after Saturday, Bryant was feeling at ease. Though her team plays almost nothing like last year’s squad, the results so far are just as good.

The Chargers (5-1) repeated their title as Heritage Invitational champions on Saturday, knocking off New Bern in the title game 26-24, 25-20 and 25-21.

The tournament, which began Friday, started with best-of-three matches in pool play before Saturday’s best-of-five matches.

“It means even more this year since we lost so many seniors,” said junior setter Elizabeth Carlton. “It shows that we really have a good team this year.”

Featuring 13 players who hadn’t had much, if any, experience playing alongside one another, the Chargers went 3-1 in pool play. A 2-0 loss to New Bern was the only blemish. But as the team meshed off the court over the weekend, it quickly improved on the court.

“That’s been our biggest problem over the past couple weeks of practicing – the team bonding, that trust, the confidence you have in your teammates,” Bryant said. “That was the difference between (Friday) and (Saturday). Just in the matter of a few games under our belt, you could just tell that they had confidence in each other, the trust that they needed, and that they had bonded as a team.”

Bryant said she told her team – which has just two senior starters in Kourtney Dworsky and Abby Larus – that the goals going into the year would not change. But how they reach those goals, like the team’s style of play, would have to.

“We’re going to be feisty and we’re going to get the ball up and over as many possible times as we can,” Bryant said. “We’re not going to be (overpowering), but I think we’re going to be scrappy.”

Cary Academy showed that feistiness in its battle with New Bern in the title match.

In the first game, the Chargers ended on an 11-4 run, including four straight points after New Bern was a point away from clinching victory. In the second, Cary Academy went on another late run after trailing early – this time scoring eight of the game’s final 11 points.

In the third, the Chargers withstood nine lead changes to hold off the Bears.

“They proved to me today that I might need to put my expectations even higher,” Bryant said.

Chargers sophomore Moriah Smith was named MVP of the tournament. She joined Carlton on the all-tournament team.