Dragon Volleyball Earns Wins Second Consecutive Tourney, Cross Country Opens Season

Coach Ray Hedden: This weekend was a great growth opportunity for the team to come together despite missing some players. We started off Friday pool play against CHSA which we played pretty well, winning 25-16 and 25-22. Next up was La Marque High School which we won, 25 –11, 25-8. Rosehill Christian was our next opponent and they provided a lot of challenge for us as we tried some different line-ups to combat what they were doing. Being without AC Adam and Lauren Harkness meant we had to do some different lineups and we couldn’t get it figured out in time as we took a loss 16-25, 15-25. That loss put us in a position where we needed to beat Second Baptist to take second in the pool. The girls rallied behind each other and never looked back winning 25-7, 25-22.

Saturday had us in the Gold bracket where we played Lutheran North and won 25-12, 25-11. Moving into the semi-finals we were up against a good Round Rock Christian team that had probably the best offense we had seen. Again, our team stayed hot, played well and won 25-21, 25-22. We now secured our spot in the championship where we played one of the best defensive teams we had seen in the tournament, and probably the season, in Pantego Christian. We played one of our best matches when it counted the most, winning 25-18 and 25-12.

I was so proud of how the team rallied and grew closer this weekend. Of course, the tournament win was nice but to see what Coach Peyton and I got to see happen this weekend was fun and special. Once this team is healthy and in tact we should be primed for SPC play! We had a lot of contribution this weekend from the entire team.

Tournament MVP – Amaya Harrell
All Tournament – Rivers Kolesar
Serving leader – Laura Weatherford with 13 aces
Hitting Leaders – Amaya Harrell – 39, Rivers Kolesar – 36, Hailey Huettel – 24
Passing/Defense leader – Laura Weatherford-72 digs, Amaya Harrell – 29
Blocking – Yasmine Sebastiany – 6 blocks
Honorable mention – Grace Minarovic – 6 kills, Amy Van der Linden – 7 kills, Tatum Threadgill – 15 kills

Laura Weatherford was a rock for us in passing and defense while Lauren Wolford ran the offense really well for the weekend. Leadership from Hailey Huettel was instrumental on day 2 where she was near perfect again in her attempts and defense!

Next up for Dragon Volleyball:
Aug. 27 vs. Bay Area Christian, 6 p.m. • first home game!
Sept. 3 at Incarnate Word, 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 5 vs. Incarnate Word, 530 p.m.
Sept. 9 vs. The Village School, 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 12 at Northland Christian, 5:30 p.m.

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

8/23 at Friday Night Lights, Bear Branch Sports Park Cross Country Opens Season

Coach George Dohner: The Cooper Cross Country teams opened up their seasons at The Woodlands Friday Night Lights Nike Invitational. Both teams ran very well in their first meet of the season. Nine girls set new personal records in their 2-mile race while almost every boy running improved on their times from a year ago.

The Cooper boys’ team ran in the Varsity B (4K) race, putting two runners in the Top 20. Junior Will McDermott finished 7th with a time of 13:35 (PR) followed by Senior Cadan Hanson in 17th place with a personal record of 13:56. Sophomore Vishnu Swaminathan also ran well in his first cross country meet finishing in 31st place. Carson Hanson and Alex Everson rounded out the Top 5 scorers for Cooper. We were very proud of the boys run. They were running against some really good competition and had a great start.

The girls’ team ran in two divisions. We ran our Top 5 girls in the Varsity A (Elite) Division while the remainder ran in the Varsity B race. Freshmen Keira Van der Linden and Megan Day led the Varsity B races with 2-mile times of 14:31 and 14:34. They were followed by sophomore Bailey Leavitt with a time of 14:43. The Varsity A race was led by junior Katie Drake who ran a time of 13:32. She was followed by freshman Chloe Smith at 13:44 and Abby Mendenhall at 13:47. Rebecca Melin and Madison Breuax also ran well finishing out the scoring for Cooper.

“We are happy to have our first meet in the books,” said Coach George Dohner. “This was a tough course with tough muddy conditions. Several runners lost shoes in the race and were still able to run a good race. We are looking forward to next week’s Cooper Invitational where we will open up the rest of our runners. This is going to be a great year.”

 

Next up for Dragon Cross Country:
Aug. 31 hosting the Cooper Dragon Invitational at Burroughs Park, 8 a.m.
Sept. 19 at Willis Wildcat Invitational, Misty Meadows Girl Scout Camp

VARSITY FOOTBALL

8/23 (scrimmage) vs. Second Baptist

Next up for Dragon Football:
Aug. 30 vs. Frassati Catholic, 7 p.m.
Sept. 6 vs. Legacy Prep, 7 p.m. HOMECOMING
Sept. 13 at Bay Area Christian, 7 p.m.

UPCOMING VARSITY SPORTS ACTION AT HOME:
Tuesday, August 27
6 p.m. Varsity Volleyball vs. Bay Area Christian
Friday, August 30
7 p.m. Varsity Football vs. Frassati Catholic • first home game
Saturday, August 31
8 a.m. Varsity Cross Country hosts Cooper Dragon Invitational at Burroughs Park
Thursday, September 5
5:30 p.m. Varsity Volleyball vs. Incarnate Word
Friday, September 6 • HOMECOMING
7 p.m. Varsity Football vs. Legacy Prep
Monday, September 9
5:30 p.m. Varsity Volleyball vs. The Village School