LDVB gets break from 12-6A slate with win over St. Stephens

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The no. 13 Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs volleyball team got a brief reprieve from the grind that is District 12-6A action when they hosted the non-district St. Stephens Episcopal Lady Spartans Tuesday night at Bulldawg Gymnasium.
The Lady Spartans came into the contest with just six matches under their belt and a 4-2 record, but they showed some fight in their 3-0 loss to the Lady Dawgs 25-14, 25-18, 25-10.
After a convincing 25-14 win in set one, the Lady Dawgs were on their way to another lopsided win with a 12-5 lead.
The Lady Spartans had other ideas as they went on a 10-7 run to narrow the Cove lead to just two, 17-15.
Kills by juniors Leah Powell and Janice Fa’aola, along with a kill and block by senior Christina Pettigrew, quickly made it set-point for the Lady Dawgs at 24-17.
A kill by St. Stephen’s Ariana Zarse delayed the inevitable before a kill by Fa’aola on the assist by senior Kamryn Ash closed out the set 25-18 for a 2-0 Cove lead in the set. 
The Lady Dawgs looked the close out the match with a quick start in the final set.
Kills by Powell Pettigrew and senior Jada Close helped the Lady Dawgs build a 9-3 lead before another kill by Zarse and a pair of aces by Lucy Schmidt pulled the Lady Spartans within four, 11-7. 
The Lady Dawgs then closed on a 14-3 run to close the set 25-10 and match 3-0.
A kill each from Pettigrew and Fa’aola got it started and two strong kills and a dump by senior Aidan Chace helped put the Lady Dawgs firmly in control at 20-9. Powell had a kill and Close had a dump during the run.
A kill by Zarse was sandwiched by a block each from senior Mahal Thorpe and Pettigrew for the 23-10 score.
A block by Pettigrew gave the Lady Dawgs match point and a dump by Pettigrew ended the contest.
Powell had 13 kills and a .565 hitting percentage to lead the Lady Dawgs with Fa’aola following with 11 (.474) and Chace adding eight.
Ash set up that offense with a game-high 26 assists while Chace added nine more. 
Three Lady Dawgs finishing with double-digit kills, led by senior Kristen Wasiak’s 19. Powell followed with 14 and Chace chipped in 11.
Close and Pettigrew combined for 15 blocks to lead the front-line defense. Close led the way with eight. 
Cove (32-2 overall, 6-1 in District 12-6A) gets back to business tonight when they host the Killeen Lady Kangaroos (1-5 in District 12-6A) with a 5:30 p.m. first serve.