Lady Dawgs sweep Heights; close District 8-6A against Shoemaker tonight

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

HARKER HEIGHTS - The No. 20-ranked Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs came one step closer to completing their undefeated district season with another sweep over Harker Heights Friday night on the road and they look to finish that task when they host the Shoemaker Lady Grey Wolves tonight in the District 8-6A finale.
Cove made quick work of the Lady Knights en route to a program sweep.
The Lady Dawgs opened up with a dominant 25-7 win in game one before holding off the surging Lady Knights 25-17 in game two and 25-23 in the final game to complete the 3-0 sweep.
Senior Talia Kinslow and junior Aidan Chace led the offensive attack for the Lady Dawgs with 11 kills apiece while sophomore Janice Fa’aola and Jada Close added nine and six more kills, respectively.
Junior Kamryn Ash led the offensive flow with 24 assists while Chace added 21 more.
Kinslow and Chace also led the defense at the net with five blocks apiece while sophomore Leah Powell, junior Christina Pettigrew and Close added two blocks each.
Powell led the back row defense with 13 digs while junior Kristen Wasiak added 10 and Chace chipped in seven. Wasiak led in serves received with 21.
Powell Chace and Ash each had two aces to lead Cove in the match.
The Cove freshman beat Heights 25-14, 25-9 and the junior varsity closed out the night with a 25-23, 25-12 sweep over the Lady Knights.
The Lady Dawgs (36-8, 11-0 in District 8-6A) will finish out their district slate at home against the Shoemaker Lady Grey Wolves (3-8 in District 8-6A) tonight for senior night.
Cove easily downed the Lady Wolves in their first meeting on Sept. 29 with a 25-10, 25-12, 25-8 domination on the road.
The Lady Dawgs then begin their quest for a state title with a likely rematch with Desoto on Halloween.
Cove defeated Desoto in four sets in the first round last year 25-22, 25-16, 16-25, 26-24 before having their season ended in a sweep by Southlake Carroll.
Desoto is currently in fourth place at 7-4 with Irving Nimitz nipping at their heels at 5-7 with two games remaining, including tonight’s head-to-head matchup between Desoto and Nimitz.
Kiara Hunnicut leads Desoto’s offense with 222 kills and senior Jada Allen adds another 138 kills. Hunnicut also leads the defense at the net with 109 blocks while sophomore Aeleyah Richardson is next with 73. Senior Brittany Henderson runs the offense with 249 assists and senior D’aira Crowe leads the back row defense with 226 digs.
Should Cove defeat the Eagles, they would likely get another rematch from last year against the No. 11- ranked Carroll Lady Dragons, who currently are tied with No. 8 Byron Nelson Trophy Club for the second spot in District 5-6A at 10-3. Carroll faces Flower Mound (9-4) in the season finale tonight while Byron Nelson will take on No. 3 Lewisville Hebron. 
Carroll is led in kills by sophomore Annabelle Smith with 473 while freshman Natalie Glenn follows with 393. Smith also leads in blocks with 97. Junior Mckenzie Nichols leads the team in assists with 909 while junior Callie Craus chips in 334. Senior Sabrian Monaco leads the back row defense with 621 digs while Glenn adds 442.
The Dragons will likely have a first-round match up with any of four possible teams jockeying for position in District 6-6A. Allen (9-4), Plano (8-5), Denton Guyer (8-5) and McKinney Boyd (7-6) are all within striking distance of the district leader Plano West (10-3) and Carroll will face the third-place team that comes out of the rubble.
Allen will show down with No. 19 Plano West for the top spot while Plano will face McKinney (2-11), Guyer will face Plano East (4-7) and Boyd will face Wylie (0-13).
The teams left standing will be revealed after tonight’s match ups.