The Lady Buccs watched their CCC title hopes virtually slip away as Bethel hustled its way to a victory.

September 28, 2006 – COVINGTON
Covington's coach Stephanie Robinson summed up Bethel's 3 games to 2 victory over the Lady Buccs with one simple phrase, "They played like they wanted it more than us".

The Lady Bees overcame a 2 games to 1 deficit to win the fourth game 25-22. Then, in a thrilling finish, Bethel closed out the match 15-10.

The victory was huge for Bethel as the Lady Bees stayed within striking distance of conference leader Twin Valley South by improving to 14-4 overall and 8-1 in the CCC.

The loss was equally devastating for Covington, who dropped with 12-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

"This pretty much ends our chances of winning a conference championship," shrugged Robinson. "We still have other goals we'd like to accomplish so we'll have to put this one behind us and move forward. There's a lot of volleyball left."

Covington opened the contest with a 25-18 win in the first game after Bethel built a 5-1 lead. Alex Christian sparked the Lady Buccs with numerous powerful kills and kept Bethel off balance.

"We played pretty well in the first game," said Robinson. "After that, we killed ourselves with mistakes."

Bethel took advantage by tying the match in the second game, 25-17. Aggressive serving and solid solid defense gave Covington fits while the Lady Bees continued to build momentum.

"They (Bethel) were scrappy and played with a lot of emotion," Robinson said. "They served aggressive and we struggled with our serve receive."

The tables turned again in the third game as Covington took back the momentum with a 25-17 win. Still, mistakes began to compile for Covington.

"Even though we won the third game, we still weren't playing well," described Robinson. "We weren't hitting the ball where we needed too and we missed a lot of serves."

Covington mistakes combined with Bethel's hustle and emotion led to a memorable comeback by the Lady Bees as the Bethel faithful poured onto the floor to celebrate.

"You could tell how much it meant to them (to win)," described Robinson. "We didn't match their emotion and that was the difference. Give them credit because they came into our gym and beat us."

Covington travels to unbeaten Versailles on Monday in non-conference action.