Many of the younger players saw significant action as Covington handled Newton in three straight games.

October 10, 2006 – PLEASANT HILL
With the tournament draw in the books, Covington coach Stephanie Robinson used Tuesday's match-up with Newton to give her younger kids and opportunity to see more action.

"I didn't start our normal lineup tonight," said Robinson. "We gave some of our bench players a chance to start and see more playing time. Without our bench, we wouldn't be where we are at this point of the season and I feel they deserve a pat on the back."

Even with a different line-up, the Lady Buccs controlled the action throughout for a 3 games to 0 win.

"The girls had fun tonight," Robinson continued. "The younger kids played very well and I'm encouraged by their performance. The girls know that they can be called upon at any time to come in and contribute. I'm comfortable knowing I can count on them."

Covington captured the first game 25-13 as junior Kailey Tobias recorded five kills.

"Kailey works very hard and has a great attitude," Robinson described. "She's actually a very good defensive player, but it was awesome to see her hit well."

The trend continued in the second game as Covington built a 16-5 lead as Jessica Snipes served six straight points.

"Jessica served very well tonight," Robinson said. "She didn't have one serving error the entire night on 13 serves. She also had eight digs. That's outstanding."

Newton managed to play Covington even over the remainder of the second game, but the Lady Buccs still took a 25-12 win.

In the third and final game, Covington built a 21-11 lead until Newton served four straight aces to close the gap to 21-15. The Lady Buccs regrouped to take a 25-20 win.

"The last game was a little too close for comfort," said Robinson. "They (Newton) didn't give up and played hard until the end."

Still, Covington improved to 15-6 overall and 9-2 in the CCC. Newton drops to 4-14 overall and 1-10 in conference play.

The Lady Indians host Bethel on Thursday, while Covington hosts Mississinawa Valley.

"We have to be ready to play Thursday," concluded Robinson. "Before tonight we lost four out of our last seven matches, so we need to finish the regular season strong and head into the tournament with some momentum."

Alex Christian led the way with 23 kills, while Kailey Tobias recorded 10 kills in her first varsity start.