Volleyball roundup
Cooper def. Midland Lee 14-16, 15-4, 16-14
Cooper rallied from a first-game setback and later survived a match point to down Midland Lee Saturday in a District 4-5A volleyball contest at Cougar Gym.
The Lady Cougars fell behind early in the first game, but charged back to tie it, 11-11. After Lee gained a 13-11 lead, Cooper rallied again, taking a 14-13 lead before Lee came on strong again to win the game.
"In the second game we played much better," said CHS coach Beth Wills. "We just kept putting a string of points together almost every server. We never trailed in the second game."
Catherine Weir led CHS in kills with 10, and Melisse Watkins was a major force serving for the Lady Cougars.
Cooper led 4-3 in the third game, but Lee gained a 10-5 edge. After several scoreless rotations, the serving of Melisse Watkins helped bring CHS to 10-all.
Lee's match point came at 14-12, and Lee spiked a winner, but the girl who hit the ball was called for touching the net on the follow-through.
The rotation got back around to Watkins, who then served the match out for the Lady Cougars, who improved to 2-0 in district and 14-8 overall.
"Melisse overall was one of the better players for us today, frontcourt and backcourt," Wills said. "We scored 18 points on her serve alone. All-around, she did a tremendous job for us.
"Our setters (Cricket Holt and Hayley Gibson) did a better job of getting the job to us today.
"Today was just a battle. I thought Midland Lee played a great match and at times we looked good. It came down to little things. I hate that we continue to get behind in games, but on the positive side at least we're coming back and taking those."
Lee is now 1-2 in district and 9-9 overall.
The next match for Cooper will be at district-leader Odessa Permian at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Abilene High falls to 0-3
MIDLAND -- Abilene High got discouraged early and never rebounded in a 15-7, 15-13 District 4-5A volleyball loss to Midland High.
The loss sent the Lady Eagles to 0-3 in district and 7-12 overall. MHS improved to 2-1 and 10-9.
Midland High streaked to a 6-1 lead and never trailed in the first game.
Abilene High led four times in the second game, but MHS managed to hold on for the win.
"We only had seven kills in the whole match," AHS coach Didi Pierce said. "Midland High blocked our first three hits, and that intimated us and we just stopped hitting the ball.
"Right now, I feel we're playing a mental game with ourself. When we get behind in the first game, we just start thinking about what we did wrong instead of just thinking positive thoughts. After you lose the first game it's always a challenge to come back and play well and that's what we did."
Sara Laster had a team-high three blocks in the match for Abilene High, and Kim Roach had three of the Lady Eagles' seven kills.
The next match for the Lady Eagles will be Tuesday at home against Odessa High.
Southwestern trips McMurry
Despite getting 12 kills each from Mandy Findley and Amy Jo Williams, McMurry University fell to Southwestern University 15-8, 15-12, 15-6 Saturday afternoon at Kimbrell Arena.
McMurry is now 4-3 on the season, and Southwestern improved to 7-6.
The Lady Indians had nine blocks overall, and had a 42-30 edge in overall kills. In addition to Findley and Williams, Tracee Nielsen had a match-high 30 sets. Williams also had a match-high 24 digs.
Southwestern was led by Kelly Wood with 16 kills, while Sarah Hoffman had 14 digs and Melanie Havens had a team-high 26 sets.