By Seth Slover
Staff Writer
As Coppell fans filed in to the gym for the highly anticipated volleyball matchup with rival Southlake Carroll, red t-shirts were handed out to the first 600 cowgirl fans to show up. The home side was packed full with enthusiastic fans. Yours truly caught Bear Bass’s ball that was thrown into the stands! Senior guys lead the students in chants that got the crowd pumped up. However, the level of initial confidence in a victory soon diminished after a poor start.
The tone set at the beginning of game one was one that persisted throughout the entire match. Two words: Janelle Jenkins. This Southlake senior, number 15, dominated the game from the start. After the game had been tied at six, Jenkins went crazy, taking her team to a five point lead. A great deal of missed hits by the Cowgirls contributed to a Dragon victory and a final score of 25-13 to game one.
Kierra Holst started game two with a powerful spike. Several points later though, a huge spike by Erica Bohannon was returned with a phenomenal dig that resulted in a 4-2 Southlake lead. From there, Jenkins took over once again. Continuously spiking the ball, Jenkins was unstoppable. Southlake extended their lead to 14-5 before an enormous hit from the outside. Holst’s hits were consistently returned by the Lady Dragons’ back row players. Once again, the Dragons dominated, resulting in a 25-13 final score of game two.
During game three, only two points in, the game was delayed for unexplained reasons. Coppell fans began chanting the opposing coach’s last name during the dead point in the game. When play resumed, Coppell junior Ashley Rappaport made a hit to tie the game at three. For the majority of the game, the Cowgirls hung around and stayed competitive, largely due to Chiaka Ogbogu’s spikes. But in the end, Jenkins and the Dragons were too much to handle. The final point was called by the referee and the Cowgirls lost the match in three games.
After the game, Ogbogu felt strongly about the lost.
“I feel like they really wanted to beat us more than we wanted to beat them. This was obvious through how we played.”
Junior Cassidy Pickrell had the mentality that the Cowgirls still need improvement.
“I am so angry about this loss, but I know we’ll keep working hard to improve.”
