LDVB fights off scrappy Belton Lady Tigers to win 3-1
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs volleyball team shook off last Tuesday’s upset at the hands of Midway Pantherettes with a 3-1 win over the Belton Lady Tigers on the road on Friday to improve to 30-2 on the year and 6-1 in District 12-6A play.
The Lady Dawgs took the first set 25-17 before the Lady Tigers came back to even the match by edging Cove 25-23 for a 1-1 contest.
Cove got back on track with 25-17 wins in each of the final two sets to secure the win.
Junior Leah Powell again led the Cove offensive attack with a team-high 15 kills. Junior Janice Fa’aola and senior Aidan Chace added 11 kills each while seniors Jada Close and Christina Pettigrew added six and five kills, respectively.
Senior Kamryn Ash notched 33 assists to lead the offense while Chace added seven.
The Lady Dawgs back row defense was led by senior Kristen Wasiak with 24 digs. Chace added 19 more while senior Aviyon Wilborn and Powell chipped in 11 each.
Close and Pettigrew had eight blocks each to lead the back-row defense, followed by Powell (7), Fa’aola (6) and Chace (5). Chace also led the team with two aces.
The team did much better on serve receives with just three errors out of 73 serves but had 29 dig errors in 110 tries.
The Cove junior varsity team defeated Belton 25-17, 25-10. He freshman B team also earned a win 15-25, 26-24, 26-24 over the Lady Tigers while the Freshman A team lost 18-25, 12-25.
The team is third-best in hitting percentage, according to Maxpreps.com. They have combined for a .342 hitting percentage in 80 sets played while Missions Veterans Memorial are hitting at a .379 clip in 68 sets and Gregory-Portland is second at .347 through 75 sets.
Cove has 982 kills in 2,216 attempts. Chace is eighth in Texas and leads the team with a .415 percentage (279 for 579). Powell is close behind at 18 with a .361 percentage (216 of 512).
Maxprep.scom has Copperas Cove ranked third nationally and first in Texas in blocks with 358. Velva North Dakota (710) and Beech Grove Indiana (403) lead the category. Pettigrew’s 131 puts her at 16 in the nation while Close (22nd – 118) and Chace (43rd – 95) round out the top 50.
Wasiak also ranks in the top 50 in digs at 41 with 459.
The Lady Dawgs get back to action tonight at home in a non-district clash against St. Michaels beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the sub-varsity teams, followed by the varsity before returning to Bulldawg Gymnasium on Friday to face the Killeen Lady Kangaroos with a 5:30 p.m. first serve.