Lady Cougars play Howard School Hawks
Wednesday afternoon the Lady Cougars faced AAC opponent the Howard Hawks. The teams were anxious to play one another as they had both walked away with the “W” playing AAC opponent AASD.
Game one was a slow start as the Cougars were trailing behind early on. While the team served well, they struggled to hold on to the serve, which started the never-ending pursuit of trying to catch up on the scoreboard. Emily Daugherty was a key factor in court coverage for the Lady Cougars. She played one of her best matches ever, encouraging and leading the team. Shakirah Wazeerud-Din grew in her on the net game as she experimented with some key hits off overplayed balls from the Hawks as well as working around some plays from her own team. Their efforts were not enough, the Hawks took game one, 9-25.
The Cougars began this set with the first point. Alecta Feely was on top of her game with speedy feet and accurate ball placement. Her serves were a consistent part of the entire match. Emily continued her domain with excellent ball handling, both with passing and trying to set up the offense for the Cougars. Natalia Hoeve again showed off her lightening quick speed as she helped to pick up the continuous balls that the Howard girls would drop to the center Cougar court. Freshman Celeste Jeoffery came off the bench, making her presence known to the Howard Hawks. She dropped four soft but well placed serves over the net making the Hawks struggle to return the serve, and putting the Cougs into the lead. Even after three more serves from Emily, it was not enough. Unfortunately, Hawks player #8 got an 11-point run and putting the Cougars into a back pedal from which they could not recover. The fire seemed to die in the Lady Cougars. Hawks won 17-25.
Game three brought many new faces on the Cougar court. Ana Mills scores her first point for the Lady Cougars helping to get some momentum going on the court. Junior Erin McNeal brought her experience with steady passing and covering of Cougar territory. Alecta continued her consistent serving along with a nice ace. Sadly, it just did not match up to the desire that the Hawks showed, they took this game, sealing the match, 11-25.
This match is a perfectly timed wake up call for the Lady Cougars. They have shown from their past three matches they have what it takes, now is the time to get it going and work hard in practice to make it happen in games. Come cheer them on as they travel to Brandon Hall on September 10, 4pm game time. Go Cougars!
