Sunday, September 15, 1996

Lady Cougars beat Lady Eagles in 4-5A volleyball opener
By TIM THORSEN
Staff Writer

Cooper overcame a raucous crowd at Abilene High's Eagle Gym to defeat the Lady Eagles 15-5, 15-11 in the first District 4-5A girls volleyball game of the year for both schools.

The Lady Cougars jumped on AHS early, racing out to an 8-0 lead in the first game behind the strong serving of seniors Bridget Varner and Mandy Medina.

"We played very well early and the quick start really helped relax the team a little," said Cooper coach Beth Wills.

The Lady Eagles finally recorded their first point of the match when Lady Eagle senior Kelly Armbruster blocked a CHS spike attempt to make the score 8-1.

"I think we came out a little timid," said Abilene High coach Didi Pierce. "It took us a little too long to get in a groove. Miscommunications early really hurt us."

After giving up two more points to the Lady Coogs, Abilene struck for three consecutive points.
The run was capped by a deep spike from Tosha Steele, which made the score of the first game 10-4.

"Anytime you play a match against Abilene High, you know it's not going to be easy," Wills said. "Every game is a dogfight."

Cooper junior Cricket Holt served out the match for the Lady Coogs, firing two consecutive aces as part of a five-point run which closed out the 15-5 Cooper victory in the first game.
The second game began much better for the Lady Eagles, as Armbruster recorded an ace after several side-outs for the first point of the match.

Following three more side-outs, Cooper was unable to return a serve from Abilene's Jennifer Jurrius, giving the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead.

However, after a Varner kill which returned serve to the Lady Coogs, Junior Catherine Weir had a kill and an ace which tied the match at 2-2.

Game 2 remained tight throughout, as Abilene battled back from a 4-2 deficit on the strength of two consecutive Armbruster kills.

However, Cooper then regained control as Varner served two more aces to give Cooper a 6-4 advantage. Cooper followed Varner's aces with a 6-3 run, extending its lead to 12-7.

Just as it appeared Cooper was ready to close out the second game, Abilene's Leah Galloway blocked a Cooper spike attempt to return serve to the Lady Eagles.

With Tabatha Breeding serving, AHS fought back valiantly, taking the next four points and forcing Wills to call a timeout with the Cooper lead chopped to one.

"We couldn't let up," said Wills. "I told them that they just needed to keep fighting."

Following the timeout, Cooper junior Jessie Wise came up with a big kill to return service to Cooper.

With senior Kris Lukauskis serving, Wise and Weir combined for two consecutive blocks, which gave the Lady Cougars a 14-11 lead. Cooper then closed out the victory as a spike attempt by Armbruster sailed wide.
"We need to come out more ready to play from now on," Pierce said. "We also need to do some work on our hitting before our next game."