Lady Dawgs remain in playoff hunt with win over Heights

By SEAN HANEY

Cove Leader-Press

Wednesday the Lady Dawgs squared off against the Lady Knights in Harker Heights. Due to a gas leak at Copperas Cove High School, the game was postponed until Wednesday night.

“The girls played awesome together as a team the whole match,” Coach Christy Thompson said after a point for point match.

The Lady Knights took the first set 25-23 and it took a toll on the Lady Dawgs, but that did not stop the Dawgs from bouncing back and never giving up.

The Lady Dawgs beat Heights in four sets and will travel to Weiss on Friday. This brings their season record to 24-12, 4-3 in district play.

“It was a big game. The girls knew what needed to happen and we played our game the whole night and came out on top,” Thompson said, with excitement running through her voice.

“I believe the match was played aggressively. We played point for point,” Aaliyah Butler said with exhaustion on her face after leading her team in 11 kills on the night. She has 277 on the season and a kill percentage of 38.6%.

Even though the Lady Dawgs came out on top there was still something that Butler wishes could be changed.

“I wish we could’ve changed the outcome of the first set, and I wish we were more consistent.”

There were numerous challenges for both sides of the court last night but for Butler there was a specific one she pushed through.

“The challenge I faced tonight was finding the open spots in the court, but after I continued to hit the ball, I found the open spots and that difficulty never stood in my way for the rest of the night.”

“I felt like the match was played with a lot of energy from both teams,” Audrey Martin stated after having 18 assists on the night and 350 on the season so far. Just like her fellow teammate, Martin wishes that she could’ve changed the outcome of the first set.”

Challenges were very common Wednesday night, Martin agreed.

“The challenge that I faced tonight was struggling with tip balls, but I overcame this by reading the ball,” Martin said.

The next match for the Lady Dawgs is tonight against Pflugerville Weiss in Pflugerville.

The Lady Dawgs hold third place in the division with playoffs in their sights. Waco Midway is 7-0, Pflugerville Weiss is 5-2, Copperas Cove is 4-3, Bryan is 3-4, Hutto is 3-4, Harker Heights 2-5 and Temple is 0-6.