Playing the No. 1 team in the nation for the District 6-6A home opener is a tough ask. The Cowgirls, equipped with new coach Libby Pacheco, a scream-cheering bench and an intense lineup, came in with a vengeance against Flower Mound yet fell short, 25-20, 25-20, 25-20.

“They’ve beat us for the past two years and there’s a bit of a rivalry going on – I don’t know if they know that – but it was just pure drive, the way we played today,” Coppell junior outside hitter Skye Lamendola said. “A loss is always disappointing but we played really well and we have a lot of potential to beat [Flower Mound] in the next round.”

The first two sets were led exclusively by the Jaguars, with a strong block and hitting led by keeping them in a position for domination while Coppell trailed by a few points, capitalizing on Flower Mound’s few unforced errors while Young and Lamendola led offense in kills and Coppell senior libero Beca Centeno held the defensive line with 29 digs. Even so, Flower Mound gained with careful offense. Flower Mound was led by junior hitter Maddie Cox (6 feet 3 inches), keeping defense on their toes with her shot-placement and strength.

“We need to tweak a few things for our next few games,” Coppell junior setter Taylor Young said. “ We definitely could have done a little better, we had just little mistakes here and there. That means working on finishing out rallies and putting them away and with communication. We had a lot of miscommunication where we just let the ball drop. ”

With each point intense and several rallies occurring throughout each set from start to finish, the match never fell in excitement. Coppell’s game was, however, peppered with little mistakes such as a whiff leading to a set-point or a spike sent so softly it thumped against the net. 

The third set, however, allowed Coppell a lead for the first time in the match. Starting off strong, the Cowgirls’ seeming comeback fell short after several long winded rallies and dominant offense by Flower Mound.

“We’ve just got to focus on taking care of responsibilities all around,” Lamendola said. “Just do your job, get it done. The push in the third set was just brought on by a want to win. We wanted it that badly and next time, we will.”

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