VOLLEYBALL: Lady Dragons take second place at the Orin Covell Longhorn Tourney

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - The John Cooper School varsity volleyball team brought home second place out of 24 teams at the Orin Covell Longhorn Tourney 27-29 in Spring Branch. Team members Taylor Turner, Kayley Wood and Christina Gooch all earned all-tournament honors.

"The girls put up a good fight," said Jim "Smoki" Richardson. "We started out sluggish on Day One and played some good volleyball on Day Two, but just couldn't seem to finish."

The first two days, the Dragons lost to Cy Lakes 1-2; beat Nederland 2-0; and lost to Sealy 1-2. The final day the Dragons rallied to shut out Katy Taylor 2-0, then Sealy 2-0 to earn a trip to the finals with George Ranch.

"Going into the gold bracket on the third day, we faced a tough opponent in Katy Taylor," Richardson said. "We struggled with unforced errors in the first game but recouped our composure and made some necessary adjustments in the second game, thus winning set and forcing a third game. In Game Three, we controlled the set and went on to defeat them."

Next up for the Dragons was Sealy, the team that had defeated them the day before.

"The girls regained the intensity we had been missing, which allowed us to beat them in two sets, sending us to the final where we faced George Ranch," said Richardson.

In the championship game with George Ranch, the Dragons held on in the first set, but eventually fell to what Richardson called their "overwhelming offense,"

"I am very proud of how the girls came together and fought to get back into the final," he said. "It was a good weekend for us and a total team effort."

After three weeks of tournament play, the Dragons head to Concordia Lutheran on September 1, and will host St. Thomas Episcopal on September 3 at 5:30 p.m.