The Shadow
A little finesse can go a long way.
It went five sets last night for the Covington Cougars.
Covington defeated Parry McCluer 21-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-17, 18-16, in a grueling, five-set seesaw battle between two Pioneer District heavyweights in the Cougar Den Thursday.
“I truly believe any team in our district can win on any given night,” said Covington coach Mary Tyree. “The district is tough this year.”
Down 2-1 after three tight sets in which neither team could gain a clear advantage, Covington’s finesse style of play at the net – marked by light- fingered tips and well-aimed spikes that sent the Fighting Blues scrambling – proved to be the difference in the fourth round against the heavy hitters of Parry McCluer.
“That is something we work on all the time,” Tyree said. “It really paid off big in the fourth set.”
Larissa Moore reeled off three straight points – which was a tie for the longest Cougar stand at the serving stripe on the night – and an ace to give her squad an 8-4 lead early in the fourth frame. With the lead in hand, the Cougars went to work holding the line defensively.
Moore and Shanna Woodward came up with a huge block to keep the lid on a Parry McCluer rally a few serves later to keep Covington’s lead secure at 15-9.
Working off the steady sets of Daylin Tyree, Woodward, Moore and Leteashia Clarke stonewalled the Fighting Blues at the net and Covington took the set 25-17 to even the tally at two sets apiece.
It would take the Cougars three extra points to put the Fighting Blues away in the fifth and final frame.
The two teams traded points until Clarke served up a trio of points to put Covington up 13-10 and in reach of the final 15th point.
Parry McCluer was quick to surge back into the thick of it and it took a soft-tipped Woodward kill to end the rally and knot the score at 14-14.
The crucial kill was the last of the career-high 17 kills Woodward racked up Thursday night.
“Shanna’s played well for us at the net the last three games,” Tyree said. “She’s really been on fire for us.”
“I’m so excited,” Woodward said when the stats were tallied after the match. “I knew I was having a good game, but 17 kills, I’m excited.”
Parry McCluer had the ball in their hands three plays later with the score knotted at 16-all when Covington’s defense came through for the final time.
Kristina Huffman passed the serve over to Daylin Tyree, who set Sa’Mone Moore up for the kill that would give Covington possession and a 17-16 lead.
Fittingly, Woodward served up the final point that the Fighting Blues returned far beyond the rear out of bounds line to put the cap on the fifth set, 18-16.
Covington advanced to 9-1 on the year and 3-1 in the Pioneer with the victory.
While it may be tempting to call Thursday’s five-set thrill ride a “once-in-a-season game,” Tyree knows it’s exactly the kind of match the Cougars could find themselves in again when they travel to Buena Vista in late October.
“Parry McCluer is a very good and well coached team,” Tyree said. “I’ve told the girls all week they were for real.
They are a team to be reckoned with and it won’t be easy when we go down there.”
Woodward paced the Cougars with 17 kills, 23 points and two blocks. Daylin Tyree had a team-high 27 assists and added six kills and 12 points.
Sa’Mone Moore had one ace, 10 kills, 16 points and one block; Clarke had three aces, nine kills, 22 points and three blocks; Larissa Moore had three aces, three kills, 17 points and one block; Huffman added two aces and 12 points; and Briana Moore had one ace, two kills and nine points.
In the preliminary jayvee match, Parry McCluer defeated Covington in two sets, 25-20, 25-20.
The Cougars will be back on the volleyball court this afternoon at 4 p.m. when they host Grace Christian, a private school boasting a 14-1 record.
The game takes the place of a previously scheduled match with Pocahontas County that was cancelled.
The jayvee game will follow today’s varsity match.
