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Volleyball: Cowgirls lasso Hebron, all alone in first
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
Entering the second half of District 5-5A competition, Coppell's volleyball team had only dropped two matches all season.
On Tuesday, the Cowgirls had a chance to avenge one of those losses and take control of the district race. They did just stat, edging out Hebron (25-15, 29-27, 21-25, 15-25, 15-10) in a hard-fought match in front of a raucous home atmosphere.
The win was part of a big week that also saw Coppell edge Flower Mound on Friday (18-25, 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7). The Cowgirls, Lady Jaguars and Lady Hawks entered the week in a three-way tie for first.
Coppell now controls its own destiny in its conquest for a district title.
"We're in sole possession of first," Green added. "That's big when you look ahead to the playoff bracket and where you want to be because if we hadn't won both matches, it could have gotten real messy. Now we just want to stay ahead."
While Coppell needed five sets to win both matches, they went about them in different ways.
Against Hebron, Coppell raced in front but had to hang on after dropping the third and fourth sets.
"I think we needed a match like that because it never hurts to be pressed and show you can press back and respond," Green said. "That's what makes you better in the long run. Hebron is a great team and we needed to learn that just because you get out to a good start, doesn't mean the other team is just going to hand it to you."
Hebron coach Karin Keeney also said the tight match was welcomed.
"It was great," she said. "Obviously, we don't like losing those. But I'd rather lose a close match like that against a great team than win an easy one. There were a lot of distractions with the match being televised and it was our first time this year in an atmosphere like that. Those kind of matches make your team better and show you what you're made of. They're great for our program."
Green, meanwhile, said after the fourth game the Cowgirls were a bit deflated but rallied in the huddle and carried it to the court.
"We have a good rivalry with Hebron and knew it would be tough," she said. "They had a great Game 4 and had the momentum but we came back [in the huddle] and were saying 'let's do this' and got some energy back. We had to play one point at a time and I thought we played with much better ball control and made Hebron make some mistakes."
"It was a chess match," Keeney added. "We were both flipping and flopping our lineups and were trying to outguess each other. She made some moves that threw us off and we started off the fifth set with three errors in a row. That was the difference."
Returning after missing multiple matches with an injury, Cassidy Pickrell led Coppell with 15 kills and 24 digs. Kylie Pickrell recorded 43 assists, 17 digs, three aces and 1.5 blocks, while Erica Bohannon had 16 kills and 1.5 blocks. Chiaka Ogbogu chipped in nine kills and five blocks, while Kate Dicken and Mary-Kate Marshall had seven kills apiece.
Hebron also found the offensive balance they've been seeking with 21 kills from Micaela Spann, 14 from Loren Williams and 13 from Kendall Patterson.
"I really thought when we played [Coppell] the first time, they didn't fight us too tough," Keeney said. "That wasn't the real Coppell team and this was more like it. That is what I wanted to see."
Coppell's match against Flower Mound, meanwhile, saw the Cowgirls rebound from a Game 1 loss to take three of the next four.
"When I look back, it was a very good match for us," Green said. "That's the kind of ball I want us to be playing. We had five players between 10 and 14 kills and I was pleased with the production we received from each rotation. We didn't get struck with any big runs or anything for the most part.
"Flower Mound is a good team and played incredibly aggressively and I liked the way we finished in that fifth set."
Green was also pleased with the defense on Flower Mound outside hitter Jordan Anderson.
"She gave us the most trouble," she said. "But we continued to get better and by the fifth match, our block was improving, and we made good use of taking advantage of the rotations when she was on the back row."
Green credited Dicken and Marshall for more solid play, while Cassidy continued to hit her stride with 12 kills and 22 digs and Kylie led with 51 assists. The team had balance in its block production with three from Ogbogu, 2.5 from Bohannon and 1.5 apiece from Dicken and Marshall.
Coppell will lock up the district title with wins in its last three matches. The Cowgirls traveled to Marcus Tuesday (results not available as of press time) before hosting Denton Ryan Friday and going on the road next Tuesday against Lewisville. All matches will start at 6:30 p.m.
Hebron, meanwhile, were visitors Tuesday at Flower Mound (results not available as of press time) before hosting Lewisville on Friday.
"It would be great to win out and finish second," Keeney said. "That's our goal. We're finally getting healthy, too. This year has kind of been a revolving door and to be honest, I'm kind of surprised to be where we are right now. For a second, I was kind of worried. But now I really like where we are at."
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