LDVB defeats Lady Roos without head coach
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
As if the 2020 season hasn’t been challenging enough, the Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs’ volleyball team had yet another contest postponed due the Coronavirus in their road contest with Bryan scheduled for Tuesday and had to play Wednesday’s rescheduled Coronavirus-delayed contest against Killeen without head coach Cari Lowery due to a bout of the flu.
“She does not have Covid,” assistant coach Christy Thompson said about Lowery after the win. “She has the flu so we’re hoping for her to be back on Friday. She used to tell me all the time, ‘if I fall over dead, I want you to just step over me and keep coaching. I tried to explain to these girls before we started that there’s nothing any different than any other day in practice or any other game other than coach Lowery’s face is not over here. So, we’ve just got to go out there and take care of business.”
Despite all the obstacles, the Lady Dawgs did just that in a 3-1 win (27-25, 25-11, 24-26, 25-16) - under the leadership Thompson - over the Killeen Lady Roos to keep pace in the race for a District 12-6A playoff spot.
“At times we had moments of greatness,” Thompson said of her team’s performance in the match. “I could tell they were a little nervous and unsure in the first game without having our head coach here. I thought we handled game two very well and then game three I think we kind of took a breath and thought, ‘oh we got this,’ but we didn’t.”
The Lady Dawgs took an early 8-4 lead in the first set behind kills by junior Jiya Edwards, senior Larissa Melendez, and senior Jasmine Davis; along with an ace by sophomore Jakhi Smith.
After an ace by senior Emily Vanderpoel gave Cove their largest lead of the set at 13-8, a kill by sophomore Cynclare Wright and a pair of blocks and a kill by sophomore Julia Jurewicz helped the Lady Roos to a 12-6 run for a 20-19 Killeen lead.
A block by Edwards and another Vanderpoel ace pushed Cove back on top 22-21.
After ties at 22, 23, and 24, a pair of kills by Melendez sandwiching another by junior Kyra Gaston closed the set for Cove 27-25.
The Lady Dawgs took control in set two. Another ace by Vanderpoel, two blocks and a kill by Edwards, and a kill by Melendez helped Cove take a 14-2 lead. Kills by Melendez, Edwards and junior Jade Chapman helped the Lady Dawgs get to game-point and a dump to the open floor by Vanderpoel closed the set 25-11.
The Lady Dawgs again jumped out quickly in the third set 11-3 with kills by Gaston, junior Jameisha Moody, and Melendez.
The Lady Roos climbed back in the set with 14-8 run that brought them within a point, 19-18. Kills by junior Laneisha Lott, Jurewicz and Wright; along with a pair of aces by senior Arion Garcia and a Jurewicz block led the way for Killeen.
Kills by Gaston, Davis and Edwards pushed Cove’s lead to four, 22-28, before kills by Lott, junior Allonna Beasley, and Wright helped the Lady Roos take a 24-23 lead.
A kill by Davis knotted the set at 24-all before a kill by Jurewicz and one by junior Adriana Garcia closed the set for Killeen 26-24 for a 2-1 lead for Cove in the match.
In the closing set, the Lady Dawgs slowly began to pull away with kills by Melendez and Gaston, along with an ace by junior Emma Wasiak.
A pair of kills by Wright pulled Killeen within three, 12-9, but a kill by Edwards and a block each by sophomore Aaliyah Butler and Melendez started a 12-4 run to close out the set 25-16 and the match 3-1.
Another Wasiak ace and kills by Edwards, Melendez and Gaston helped close the run.
The Lady Dawgs look to exact some revenge on Friday as the Shoemaker Grey Wolves come to town after earning the five-set win over the Lady Dawgs in their first meeting.
“We have to minimize our mistakes,” Thompson said of their rematch against the Lady Wolves. “We have to play consistent and we have to play our game and not their game. If we do that, we’ll take care of business.”