Cove Avengers
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
KILLEEN – The Lady Dawgs had just one remaining hurdle before their highly anticipated rematch against the Midway Pantherettes – they needed to defeat the Shoemaker Lady Grey Wolves on Gen. Shoemaker Court on Tuesday to set up tonight’s showdown.
That task was easier said than done as the unconventional style of Shoemaker threw a wrench in the Lady Dawgs’ plans early. The Lady Wolves shot out to a 9-4 lead, fueled by an ace from Charlene Shepherd and a kill by Reagan Felton but Cove found their groove mid-way through the first game and cruised past the Lady Grey Wolves in straight sets (25-18, 25-7, 25-10) to move to 29-10 overall and 7-1 in district play.
“Shoemaker plays such a different game than we play,” said Cove head coach Cari Lowery. “It just took us out of our rhythm. We got a grip on it eventually but it did take us out of our rhythm.”
A strong kill by senior Jennifer Eubanks, who had a game-high 11 kills, began a 13-2 run by Cove to take control of the set and match.
“I thought we did pretty good on offense,” said Eubanks. “We started slow but we picked it up.”
With their top hitter, senior Raeven Dickerson, unavailable for the contest, it took the Lady Dawgs a bit to get their footing offensively and the dink and dunk style of play by Shoemaker wasn’t helping that cause.
“We can’t be playing back at them like they’re playing us,” said Lowery. “We have to be in control. It’s not always bad to have to play that kind of game where you can’t just relax and be in control, you have to be on your toes making something out of nothing sometimes.”
Newcomer, Brianna Childers, did a solid job filling in for Dickerson. She recorded a kill and a block during that 13-2 run that swung the tide.
“We were missing a starter whose been at the last 50 games and had to pull up a (junior varsity) kid,” said Lowery. “We kind of take for granted that we have all of the pieces to the puzzle. So, everybody has to step up and fill the hole and they did that about mid-way through game one and into game two.”
That scrappy, but unconventional, style played by many of the Killeen ISD schools can take the more conventional teams like Cove and Midway out of their game.
“It’s hard to play,” Lowery said about playing the les conventional squads. “It’s just a widespread kind of volleyball in this district and it does hurt us. That’s why we play so tough coming into district. We have to see those teams. Sometimes those more structured teams, like we are, it’s easier to play because you know what’s supposed to happen or what should happen.”
Senior Jill-of-all-trades, Katie Ranes, got the offense started with five-consecutive assists to get the offense rolling but, she switched into power-hitter mode and junior setter Kiarrah Carlisle took over the feeding duties to keep the Cove offense rolling through the final two sets. Carlisle finished with a game-high 20 assists.
“Both setters are great,” said Eubanks. “Katy has been on varsity for three years and Kiarrah just got moved in but she has stepped right up. They are both head-to-head, really good setters.”
A pair of aces by Shoemaker’s Jemeka Edison kept the Lady Wolves in the set but a serve error by the Lady Wolves closed out the first set 25-18.
Shoemaker held off the onslaught briefly with three ties in the first eight points of the second set but the Lady Dawgs caught fire with a 21-3 run to close the set, including a 10-0 run paced by Ranes’ kills. Four different Lady Dawgs registered kills during the run.
Several big shots by junior Chyanne Chapman got things rolling in the third set on the way to an 8-5 lead but Shoemaker rallied to knot the set at 8-all.
Cove again took control and finished the match on a 17-2 run, including 9-0 to end the match.
Chapman was near perfect offensively. She had a second-best nine kills on 12 attempts with no errors for a game-high .750 hitting percentage. Ranes added seven kills to go with her second-best 14 assists.
Senior Bailey French led the back row defense with 23 digs, followed by Ranes (15), Eubanks (14) and junior Madison Wasiak (13). Ranes notched her 17th double-double of the season and Eubanks collected her third.
Senior Megan Diaz led the front row defense with five solo blocks.
The Lady Dawgs will have to switch gears for the high-powered No. 30 ranked Pantherettes tonight after several unorthodox matchups over the past couple of weeks.
Lowery hopes her squad can turn it on for what is shaking out to be an offensive showcase between two heavy hitters.
“They practice hard every day,” said Lowery. “I don’t have any complaints about these kids and their commitment. They know the difference and they know what we have to do. I think we are prepared.”
Eubanks expects to match fire with fire.
“I think our hitters will be there,” she said. “We’ll be prepared. We’re practicing really well. They have great hitters but we have great hitters too.”