BY ADAM ZUVANICH
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

WOODROW – In the early stages of the 2009 volleyball season, Plainview junior Emily Welch said the Lady Bulldogs have had a tendency to ease up toward the tail end of matches.

That problem cropped up again Tuesday night when, after a fast start, Plainview nearly let a victory slip from its grasp. Cooper bounced back from losing the first two sets with a convincing win in the third, and then the Lady Pirates got within one point of forcing a decisive fifth set on their home court.

vollyballBut the Lady Bulldogs didn’t buckle, winning the next three points to close out a close fourth set and seal a 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 26-24 victory. Welch wrapped it up with her 11th kill of the match and fourth in the final set.

“I really wanted to beat them at the end,” said Welch, who also finished with 12 assists and 17 digs. “I was like, ‘Man, we’ve just got to get this done,’ so I tried harder at the end.”

Plainview (5-3) displayed a similar killer instinct in each of the first two sets. The Lady Bulldogs broke a 16-16 tie in the opener by winning five straight points, and after Cooper pulled to within 21-20 in the second set, Plainview called timeout and then won three straight points.

Several of those momentum-changing points, though, came courtesy of unforced errors committed by the Lady Pirates (3-5).

“In practice we talk about finishing all the time, and we couldn’t execute on the finish,” Cooper coach Courtney Pesterfield said. “So that’s obviously something we’ll be working on this week.”

The Lady Pirates rebounded to beat Lamesa, 25-20, 25-21, 25-18, later Tuesday, and considering Plainview is a Class 4A program, Pesterfield wasn’t too disappointed with the loss. Against Plainview, Cooper got a match-high 18 kills from Ruby Johnson and eight apiece from Kaitlyn Vinson and Katelyn Stewart, a freshman setter who also dished out 22 assists and served for two aces.

Hannah Limmer and Brittany Ruble made solid defensive contributions for the Lady Pirates – recording 22 digs and three blocks, respectively – but Cooper’s defense wasn’t as impenetrable as Plainview’s. Five different Lady Bulldogs made at least 11 digs, and Welch’s sister, senior libero Ashley Welch, led the way with 28.

“Plainview’s defense was amazing tonight,” Pesterfield said. “Their libero was outstanding.”

The Lady Bulldogs also utilized some balance offensively. Abby King matched Emily Welch with 11 kills, while Kacy Richburg added nine kills and a team-high two aces.

Sydney Hearn and Kassie Schafer also had timely kills for Plainview, giving setters Emily Welch and Meredith Mull – who finished with 14 assists – plenty of options.

“We really do not have a weak rotation,” first-year Plainview coach Torri Hatch said. “We have six strong hitters, so when they’re up there (at the net), we have three to go to every time. That makes it a lot easier for our setters, too.”

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