Lady Dawg Volleyball kicks off season on Wednesday

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Lady Dawg volleyball team kicks off their 2018-19 campaign this Wednesday with tryouts, followed by the annual Alumni Scrimmage on Friday.
The alumni game set for a 6:30 p.m. first serve, features former Lady Dawg standouts against the current Lady Dawg volleyball squad in a matchup of fun and fundamentals.
This year’s squad will be introduced to those in attendance.
Returning from last year’s undefeated district championship squad are seniors Aidan Chace, Jada Close, Aviyon Wilborn, Karym Ash, Kristen Wasiak and Christina Pettigrew. Also returning for the Lady Dawgs are juniors Leah Powell, Janice Faaola and Jaela Rice.
The Lady Dawgs finished a stellar 2017 season with a 38-9 overall record and an undefeated 12-0 district record.
The Lady Dawgs will scrimmage at home on Saturday, Aug. 4 and will travel to Bastrop to scrimmage on Monday before opening the 2018 season in the three-day Austin tournament Aug. 9-11 (times to be announced).
Cove will then travel to Georgetown to face Eastview High School on Aug. 13 with a 5 p.m. first serve and Lorena to face the Lady Leopards Aug. 14 with another 5 p.m. serve.
The Lady Dawgs will then open up the new District 12-6A at home against returning rivals 
Temple with the sub-varsity teams starting at 5:30 with the varsity to follow. Temple and Waco High joined the new 12-6A, along with former 8-6A teams, Copperas Cove, Belton, Killeen, Harker Heights, Killeen Ellison, Killeen Shoemaker and Waco Midway to form the nine-team district.
The Lady Dawgs varsity will then return to the road for the three-day Volleypalooza Tournament held in Leander while the sub-varsity teams will host the Cove tournament at Bulldawg Gymnasium.
The Lady Dawgs then get back to district action on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at home against Ellison with the sub-varsity at 5:30 followed by the varsity.
Cove will then hit the road for a contest at Killeen Shoemaker on Friday, Aug. 31 with a 5:30 p.m. first serve for the varsity. They return to the road to face Waco High on Tuesday Sept. 4 before returning home to face Harker Heights at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7 as they play four of their next five games at home.
The Lady Dawgs will then host Waco Midway at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 before hitting the road again for a 5:30 p.m. contest at Belton on Friday Sept. 14.
Cove will close out September with a non-district contest against St. Michaels on Sept. 18 before hosting Killeen on Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. and travelling to Temple for a 7 p.m. contest on Sept. 25 and Ellison for a 5:30 p.m. contest on Friday, Sept. 28.
The Lady Dawgs will then host Shoemaker in a 7 p.m. game on Oct. 2 and Waco in a 5:30 p.m. contest on Oct. 5 before road contests at Harker Heights (7 p.m. Oct. 9) and Midway (5:30 p.m. Oct. 12).
The Lady Dawgs will close out the regular season at home against Belton at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 and at Killeen Tuesday, Oct. 23.