Tompkins volleyball moved up one spot to No. 22 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association (TGCA) Class 6A state poll released Sept. 15, according to the Katy Times.

The Falcons carried a 19-5 record into the ranking, up from 17-5 when they sat at No. 23 in the Sept. 9 poll. Tompkins has climbed three spots in three weeks after entering the top 25 at No. 24 on Sept. 1.

The steady rise marks a rebound for a program that opened the season ranked No. 8 in the TGCA preseason poll released July 8. Tompkins climbed to No. 1 on Aug. 18 before slipping to No. 2 behind Allen on Aug. 24, when the Falcons held an 11-1 record.

The drop from there was steep. By Sept. 1, Tompkins had fallen 22 spots to No. 24. The Falcons' record stood at 17-5 by the Sept. 9 poll, suggesting a rough stretch of losses in late August pushed them down the rankings.

Head coach Allison Merrell set the tone for the season in a Katy ISD fall sports preview published Sept. 9. "I'm excited about the way our players work and compete and how much fun they are to be around," Merrell said in the preview. "They embody 'Nobody Plays Harder.'"

Three consecutive weeks of upward movement suggest the Falcons have steadied themselves. Tompkins won two of its matches between the Sept. 9 and Sept. 15 polls, improving from 17-5 to 19-5.

Allen, which knocked Tompkins from the No. 1 spot in late August, sat at No. 3 in the Sept. 15 poll with a 26-2 record. Cypress Ranch, another Katy-area program, checked in at No. 24 with a 22-7 mark.

Seven Lakes, which joined Tompkins in the preseason top 10 at No. 7, did not appear in the Sept. 15 top 25.