Lady Dawg volleyball will be here soon

Serve! Dig! Set! Spike! Repeat process!

That’s how you describe Copperas Cove Lady Dawg volleyball in its rawest form and I’m looking forward to seeing plenty of that in this upcoming 2017 season, when the Bi-District Champion Lady Dawgs go hunting for another playoff berth. 

Long-time head coach Cari Lowery and her staff will start putting together this year’s squad when tryouts get underway Aug. 1 at Bulldawg Gym and even though Lowery has let it be known that all positions are wide open, one name you can pretty much expect to be in the box scores is returning junior Aidan Chace, who did her job so well as both a setter and front-row hitter in 2016, that league coaches voted her District 8-6A Newcomer of the Year.  Senior Talia Kinslow should be in the mix, along with several varsity returners and upcoming players who will all be counted on to burnish the Lady Dawg tradition of excellence.

From here, it looks like Copperas Cove will be a salty bunch and they’ll need to be, since an uptick in play has been noticed all around District 8-6A.  Midway will be strong, as it always is, while the Killeen schools are getting better every year.  So is Belton, who took the Lady Dawgs to an exciting five-set match in a raucous, roaring Tiger Gym last season, which Cove pulled out.  It was a playoff atmosphere and Copperas Cove had been there.  Now, they want to go again.

Another thing that weighs in Cove’s favor is the work ethic of all players who seek a roster spot.  Lowery has been thrilled at the turnout of kids reporting to the Bulldawg weight room for strength and conditioning workouts all summer, each wanting to be at the top of their game when the coaches start keeping score at training camp.

Once the roster is finalized, the Lady Dawgs embark on a tough, four-day run, beginning with the exes coming home on Aug. 4 for the team’s annual Alumni Game.  Approximately 12 hours later, several other teams will come in for an all-day scrimmage tournament.  After the coaches have two days to break down film on that one, games begin that can be put in the win-loss column.

Tuesday, Aug. 8, Georgetown Eastview and Mesquite Horn will arrive for a dual match, with the Lady Dawgs playing both schools in back-to-back, best-of-five matches, which will take tremendous stamina and skill.  Then, tournament season begins with Copperas Cove competing in clambakes at Austin, Bastrop and Leander.  Intersperse those with non-district games, leading up to play-for-keeps Oct. 8 at Killeen High.  The kids will be ready.

So will I, since one of my favorite jobs is being the Lady Dawgs’ public address announcer.  It’s like seeing a chess match on hardwood, watching the skills these youngsters demonstrate and adjustments the coaches make during play and after timeouts.  And when the Lady Dawgs score a point, I like to make sure, loudly, everyone in town knows it.

I love Lady Dawg volleyball and if you haven’t been to a match lately... how does that old Alka Seltzer commercial go.

Try it, you’ll like it!

Go Dawgs!