Seth Slover
Staff Writer
A large crowd from both Flower Mound Marcus and Coppell High School filed into the Coppell gym last night for a highly anticipated matchup between two top state ranked teams. The uncommonly big crowd resulted in the Coppell fans living up to their call of duty. A powerful “I believe that we will win” chant led by plunger boy Teddy Croft was a great way to start off the game with energy and enthusiasm for Coppell volleyball. This atmosphere was made even better by two Coppell students who excitedly took advantage of the opportunity to ask girls to homecoming.
Senior Kierra Holst got the Cowgirls off to a great start by beginning the game with a huge spike down the middle. It appeared that Coppell’s height advantage would be an A run took Marcus to a 12-11 lead. Loud cheers from the Marcus fans required a retaliating cheer from the Coppell fans, saying “We can’t hear you!”. The Marcus Middle Blocker repeatedly made crucial blocks throughout the game to lead her team to victory of game one.
Bear Bass started things off with a serve that Marcus responds to with point number one. Game two consisted of a great deal of rowdy chants by the Coppell fans. Eventually, fans were told that no more chants directed at an individual player would be tolerated. This suppression of the crowd undoubtedly lead to a decrease in high-level performance by the Cowgirls. Sisters Cassidy and Kylie Pickrell played a great second game with wonderful play on the front and back rows, but in the end it was not enough
“We need to have more confidence as a team in order to win. It’s our mental approach that’s costing us,” Cassidy Pickrell said.
Game 3 was ultimately the clinching game of the match. The Cowgirls were not able to play well enough in the earlier stages of the game with star Chiaka Ogbogu sitting on the bench for the majority of the game. A 6-0 run by Marcus ultimately shifted the momentum too far in their favor, resulting in a crushing loss for the Cowgirls.
“We know we can still improve, and tonight we saw that we are capable of being beat. We will work harder than anyone to be the best,” Ogbogu said.
