By Allie Arnold
student life editor
@_alliearnold

Years of success on the home court had abruptly come to an end against the Cowgirls’ biggest rival.

Last night, the Coppell Cowgirls volleyball team lost, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13, to Southlake Carroll for the second time this season as the seniors celebrated their final night playing in their home gym.

After the Cowgirls suffered a tough defeat in three games three weeks ago at the Lady Dragons’ home gym, expectations for last night’s match were not very high among fans. However, the Cowgirls definitely showed up to play seeing as they took they took the Dragons to five games in a tough and competitive match.

The players and coaches made it very clear that the last time they faced Carroll a few weeks ago, they did not play their best match. However last night, the Cowgirls seemed to be a whole new team as they played aggressively and quickly on defense.

The Cowgirls took the first game of the night with an ending score of 25-22. The Dragons’ block was huge and difficult to break through, but their tip coverage lacked, making it easy for the Cowgirls to make smart tips to the middle.

However, even with all of the excitement and momentum the Cowgirls built up from the first game, it was not enough to claim the second game nor the third. Carroll made very fast, impressive kills that were often too difficult for the Cowgirls’ defense to pick up. The Dragons won the second game 25-19 and the third 25-20.

The Cowgirls came back out for the fourth game swinging hard and breaking through Carrolls’ block. Their defense picked up a number of both hit and tipped balls all over the court. After maintaining a lead for the majority of the game, the Cowgirls claimed a win with a score of 25-23 sending them into a fifth game.

The Cowgirls scared fans as they fell behind rather quickly in a game that only went to 15 points. After being behind six points with a score of 10-4, Coppell called a much needed timeout. They came back out and closed the gap making the score 14-13 when Carroll scored the game point to win the match.

“It was disappointing because we were so close, but it was a great game,” senior libero Natalie Gilbert said. “We fought hard and played as a team and overall it was a good last game to play in [our home] gym.”