Consistent “oooooohs” echoed throughout Coppell High School Arena by the student section as Royse City continuously served. The Coppell volleyball team tried to keep its motivation up, but fell short in each set, 25-10, 25-16, 25-19.
“I think we still have a long way to go to work better as a team, but we knew from the beginning that this year we would have a lot of training to do with younger players, so we knew we had somewhere to start and every practice we could work on getting better,” senior setter/opposite hitter Mira Klem said.
Junior setter Carolina Ufret began the match serving, but Coppell ultimately lost the first point. As the third progressed, Coppell wasn’t able to breakthrough Royse’s strong defense and lost the set, 25-10.
“I could tell we were all really nervous because it was our first home game, and especially with a younger team, since for a lot of them, it’s their first varsity game at home with a crowd like this, so I understand it can be nerve racking, and I feel like that game was on us and we definitely made them look really good and we could’ve done a lot better,” senior middle blocker/setter Alena Truong said.
Second set started off strong with Coppell leading 3-1. Although starting strong, a hit out of bounds by senior outside hitter Daki Kahungu led to a tie score. Senior libero Kathryn MacDonald dove to keep the ball from hitting the ground, but the point went to Royse City pulling them into a lead which they sustained the whole set. The second set ended 25-16, for Royse City.
“We prepared just the way we prepare for every other match and do the same things, and we didn’t know anything about this team and we’ve never played them, so we tried to focus on what we could do and what we needed to work on,” Coppell coach Robyn Ross said.
Coppell continued to keep spirits up as they went into the last set of the night, but they weren’t able to get ahead and ended the set, 25-19.
“Energy is a huge key on the court because when it’s flat out there, you play flat, so I try to bring as much energy as I can onto the court to make people feel like its ok to make mistakes, but make sure they’re smart ones and don’t make them again,” Truong said.
The Cowgirls travel to the San Marcos Tournament this weekend.
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