By John Loop
Sports Editor

It was not anything like the Cowgirls’ early October matchup with the Flower Mound Marcus Lady Marauders.

At least for the first set, anyway.

“The first time we played Marcus, we rolled them in three games,” junior setter Kylie Pickrell said. “We thought it was going to be the same thing, but it wasn’t from the start.”

Nevertheless, Coppell (37-3, 8-0 in District 5-5A) shook off early miscues to take down the Lady Marauders (19-18, 3-5) in three games, 25-20, 25-11 and 25-10.

The first set was a challenge for the Cowgirls, as they struggled to find holes against Marauders sophomore libero Ashlea Evans and the rest of the Marcus defense.

“We just weren’t performing,” Cowgirl head coach Julie Green said. “It is not as much what [Marcus] was doing on the other side of the net, but we were not passing, so we weren’t able to establish our middle. If we don’t do that, then we are limited offensively. They are a great defensive team so it was a battle for the ball to find the floor.”

In the second set, the Cowgirls finally found their rhythm and rode a point streak, spurred by junior outside hitter Cathryn Cheek, senior middle blocker Mary Kate Marshall and senior outside hitter Kate Dicken, to a big lead early. The set finished with an offensive barrage reflected in the score.

“I tried to speed up the ball and switch it up,” Pickrell said. “I had to go to the outside a lot during the first game because we had some trouble with our passing, but the serve/receive picked it up in the second so I was able to put the ball on the right side of the net.”

The third set was just as much a runaway as its predecessor, and the fans, free t-shirt in hand, left Coppell High School knowing that the Cowgirls had secured another win against a tough district opponent.

The Cowgirls round out district play as they travel to Denton Ryan this Friday and face Lewisville at home on Tuesday.