There could be storm warnings for the Hill Country on Thursday and Friday. If not this week, expect them next May and the year after that.

The A&M Consolidated girls golf team will play in the UIL Class 5A state tournament this week in Austin. The Lady Tigers earned their first trip to state in 14 years with what coach Mike Terral calls a perfect storm of factors, and this team is young enough to rumble through the playoffs for the next couple of years.

Consol features four sophomores and one senior on the team that won the Region II championship to qualify for the state tournament. It is the first time the Lady Tigers have made the state meet at the 5A level, and the first time in any classification since 1994.

The trip to state is another step in a remarkably swift journey to elite status for the Consol program, which did not win a tournament and didn't come close to winning a major event just three years ago, when current senior Kimberly Gibson was a freshman.

A special class of freshmen helped make the Lady Tigers competitive last year. Now sophomores, Casey Grice, Erin Jang, Shikhi Cheruku and Haley Green have Consol in position to compete for a state title.

"It's a unique collection of girls for the golf program here," Terral said. "They really enjoy playing and being with each other. Most of them discovered the game at a fairly early age. They're quality human beings. It's kind of like a perfect storm with those factors coming together."

Terral raves about what great young people his players are. Grice, who plays No. 1 for Consol, points out that the Lady Tigers have a grade average over 100 and participate in United Way, orchestra, theater and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

They also can hit the golf ball. Consol won the regional tournament by 10 strokes over Plano West and prevented traditional state power The Woodlands from returning to the UIL Championships.

"They're not just pretty and smell good," Terral said. "They definitely have some athletic skills. I am amazed at the eye-hand coordination of some of these girls. Ability and skill is part of that perfect storm."

The Lady Tigers hope their success will attract more girls to their sport.

"We decided, 'Wouldn't it be neat if somebody was sitting across the breakfast table from their daughter reading [this article] and asked their daughter if she'd like to try it?" Terral said. "We're hoping to impact the future of girls golf in College Station."

Grice has been playing golf seriously for only three or four years, but she already ranks as one of the state's top high school players. She has shot the five lowest competitive rounds in the program's history, led by her 2-under 70 at Cottonwood Creek in the regional final two weeks ago.

Although Grice was in good position to qualify for state as an individual, she wanted to go to the Jimmy Clay Course in Austin this week with her teammates, not as an individual medalist.

"We all knew we had to play well to get to go to state, but we've all been in pressure situations and played in tournaments," Grice said. "It was overwhelming, amazing. We were so excited. I was really proud that everyone stepped up and played well so that we could go as a team and experience this together."

Last year, the Consol girls finished third at the regional tournament, one place shy of earning a coveted trip to state. Coming close motivated the Lady Tigers. It also encouraged them.

"Last year really made us realize we were good," Gibson said. "We had won maybe one or two tournaments, and that made us excited, but we would look at other teams' scores, and we started to see that maybe we could get to state. That's what we wanted this year.

"You can't just plan to win something in golf. You can get outplayed or just not have a good day. But we really increased our chances by working hard."

Gibson said the Lady Tigers often join each other to play on days when no formal team practice is scheduled. Gibson gets along well with her teammates even though Consol's other starters are two years behind her in school.

"I'm really surprised at the maturity of the girls on the team now," Gibson said. "Those things usually take a while to learn.

"I decided I didn't want to make age a big deal. Even though I'm a senior, I play No. 3. They're my best friends."

Grice said the sophomores wanted to reach state this season especially because it is Gibson's senior year.

Terral rates Southlake Carroll, which finished third last year, as the team to beat for the 5A championship. He expects Consol to contend, along with Fort Bend Clements and Austin Westlake.

"We have high expectations," Grice said. "We think we have a chance to go in there and hopefully win it, but if not, we want to finish as high as possible."

• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.