LDVB improves to 25-1 with Robinson tourney title

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Lady Dawg volleyball team had to do some scrambling on and off the court this weekend as the team was originally set to play in the Leander ISD Volleypalooza tournament but with just a few days from the tournament opener, head volleyball coach Cari Lowery found herself scrambling to even get a game.
There wasn’t even much of an explanation as to why the Lady Dawgs were dropped during a phone conversation by Lowery with tournament officials.
“‘Oh, coach, we don’t have you in that tournament and we can’t get you in’ — click,” said Lowery according to a Killeen Daily Herald article. “That was it; they just dropped us.”
After an exhaustive search, she found her team a spot in the Robinson tournament where they dominated their way to their second tournament title in three attempts to improve to 25-1 overall and 1-0 in District 12-6A action.
The Lady Dawgs swept five-consecutive matches to earn a spot in the championship match with Robinson before recording their sixth sweep of the tournament in a 25-19, 25-12 win over the host Rockettes.
The Lady Dawg split up the offensive attack against Robinson with senior Aidan Chace logging eight kills, followed by junior Leah Powell (7) and junior Janice Fa’aola (5) while senior Kamryn Ash set it up with 14 assists. Senior Kristen Wasiak led the back-row defense with 15 digs while senior Jada Close and Powell led the net defense with two blocks each.
Cove opened the tournament with a quick win over Nacogdoches (25-2, 25-7). Ash again led with 15 assists as she set up Chace for a team-high seven kills with Close and Powell following with four each. Wasiak had eight digs and senior Aviyon Wilborn recorded four aces. Close again led in blocks with two.
The Lady Dawgs again make quick work of their opponents Live Oak in a 25-8, 25-14 contest.
Fa’aola took the offensive lead in the one with a team-high eight kills while senior Christina Pettigrew and Close each logged five kills. Ash had a team-high 20 assists to lead the offense.
Pettigrew added three blocks to lead the front-line defense while Wasiak and Wilborn led the way in digs with six and five, respectively.
The Lady Dawgs closed out day one of the tournament with a 25-12, 25-17 win over Pflugerville Connally. Pettigrew again led the net defense with four blocks to lead the squad while Wasiak and Powell led the back row with six digs each. Ash and Chace split the setting duties with 12 and 11 assists, respectively. Chace also led in kills with six, followed by Petigrew with five and Powell with four.
The Lady Dawgs opened up day two of the tourney with a 25-7, 25-14 sweep of Fairfield before pounding Lago Vista 25-8, 25-8 to advance to the title match against Robinson.
Ash notched 21 assists to lead the Lady Dawgs in the win over Fairfield. Chace led in kills with nine, followed by Fa’aola (7) and Close (6). Chce also led in blocks with three while Close and Pettigrew added two each. Wasiak led in digs with six.
Against Lago Vista, Ash and Chace again divvied up the assists with 11 and 10, respectively, and Fa’aola led in kills with seven. Chace added five kills and Powell added four. Pettigrew notched a tournament-high five blocks in the win while Wasiak and Powell led in digs with eight and seven, respectively.
The Lady Dawgs get back to District 12-6A action with a home contest against Ellison tonight. The sub-varsity squads with get started at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity to follow.