Lady Dawgs outlast Midway (20-25, 25-16, 25-14, 21-25, 15-8) to take District 8-6A lead

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

It took the Lady Dawgs all five sets but the Cove volleyball team protected their home court and took control of District 8-6A with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 25-14, 21-25, 15-8) win over the Midway Pantherettes Friday evening at Bulldawg Gymnasium.
Cove started off slow losing the first set 20-25 but took control of the match with lopsided wins in sets two and three to swing momentum to their side.
The wind was taken from the sails of Cove when a close game got out of hand on a late 5-0 Midway run that allowed them to take set one.
The Lady Dawgs then evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 set-two win and took control of the match with a dominant 25-14 win in set three.
The Pantherettes took an early lead to start the second set but kills by senior Talia Kinslow, sophomore Leah Powell and junior Aidan Chace, along with blocks by Powell and junior Jada Close, spearheaded an 11-4 run by the Lady Dawgs that gave them a 15-10 lead.
After Midway pulled back within three, 16-13, a kill and a block by junior Christina Pettigrew and another block by Close helped the Lady Dawgs close the set on a 9-3 run.
The Lady Dawgs took an early lead in set three, 6-3 before a Midway rally gave them an 11-10 edge after several lead changes.
Cove then dominated the rest of the set with a 14-4 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Kills by Chace and Powell along with strong defense by junior libero Kristen Wasiak, junior Aviyon Wilborn and Powell and five-straight service points by junior Kamryn Ash led the way for Cove.
The Pantherettes (12-14 overall, 4-1 in District 8-6A) evened the match 2-2 with another back-and-forth affair that saw Midway finish on top 25-21.
The Lady Dawgs regained their flow and momentum in the final set for a 15-8 win to complete the program sweep.
Powell notched 13 kills to lead the Lady Dawgs’ offense while Chace, Kinslow and Pettigrew each added double-digit kills with 12, 10 and 10, respectively.
Ash led the offense in assists with 27 while Chace chipped in 24. Ash also led the team with three aces and Wilborn added two more.
Leading the defense was Wasiak with 33 digs. Chace added 16 digs while Wilborn, Powell and Ash chipped in 10 apiece.
Leading the defense at the net was Pettigrew with four blocks followed by three each from Close and Kinslow.
The Cove freshmen defeated Midway 25-12, 25-9 to begin the program sweep and the junior varsity pounded out a 25-12, 25-14 win prior to the varsity match.
The Lady Dawgs (29-8, 4-0) get back to action tonight with a home match against Harker Heights (14-9, 1-3).