Lady Dawgs improve to 18-4 with sweep of Pflugerville

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs improved to 18-4 on the season with a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-11, 25-20) of the Pflugerville Lady Panthers Tuesday at Bulldawg Gymnasium.
After jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead over the Lady Panthers, Pflugerville took advantage of some Cove miscues and took a 9-7 lead on a 9-2 run. 
The Lady Dawgs responded with a kill by junior Aidan Chace and a block by senior Talia Kinslow to jump-start an 11-3 run to take an 18-12 lead.
The Lady Panthers pulled back within four, 18-14, on a couple Cove hitting errors but kills by Chace, junior Christina Pettigrew and Kinslow pushed Cove’s lead back to seven, 24-17. Sophomore Leah Powell then closed the set with a hard kill for the 25-18 Cove win. 
Neither team could take advantage early in the second set with three ties and four lead changes. The Lady Dawgs then exploded on a 14-2 run to take a 22-9 advantage. 
A block kill by Pettigrew and kills by Kinslow, Powell and a block by Kinslow led the way in the run.
The Lady Panthers managed to stop the bleeding briefly but a kill by Kinslow and an ace by junior Kamryn Ash closed out the set and gave the Lady Dawgs a 2-0-match lead.
The final set also began with some back-and-forth action with four ties and four lead changes until a kill by Pflugerville sophomore Avanii Allen helped give the Lady Panthers a 9-6 lead.
A back row kill by Pflugerville sophomore libero Kayla Castilleja helped keep the Lady Panthers out front until a block by junior Jada Close, an ace by Powell, a dump by Chace and a block kill by Chace gave Cove back the lead, 13-12.
A few hitting errors and a serve receive error by Cove allowed Pflugerville (3-10) to regain momentum and the lead, 18-14, before huge kills by Pettigrew and Kinslow along with a block by Pettigrew and an ace by Chace knotted the set at 18-all.
Four Pflugerville miscues then helped the Lady Dawgs take back control along with attack points by sophomore Jeala Rice and Chace for a 25-20 set three win.
Kinslow led the offensive attack with nine kills, followed by Chace (8) and Powell (4). Chace led in assists in the match with 15 while Ash added 13. Chace also led in blocks with three while Kinslow added three. Junior Kristen Wasiak led in digs with 16 while junior Aviyon Wilborn registered seven. Powell led with three aces as well. Wilborn, Chace and Ash added two aces each.
The rest of the Lady Dawgs also swept the Lady Panthers. The freshman A team won 25-10, 25-8 while the B team won 25-2, 25-12. The junior varsity squad also earned a two-set win (25-18, 25-14) to complete the sweep.
The Lady Dawgs’ varsity team is currently competing at the Volleypalooza tournament in Leander while the sub-varsity teams are hosting a tournament in Cove.
The varsity Lady Dawgs faced Cypress Ranch to open the tournament yesterday where they fell 19-25, 26-24, 25-9. They also got a rematch with Cedar Ridge at 2 p.m. and a third match against Mansfield Legacy after (results not available at press time).