Westlake fell to Richardson Pearce on Saturday in the finals of the Duncanville tournament, and it seemed like the Chaps left their defense in the Metroplex early in Tuesday’s match against visiting New Braunfels Canyon.

Balls fell between Westlake defenders. Canyon accrued points, then confidence. Before Chap coach Al Bennett called a timeout, the Class 4A Cougars had raced to a 9-4 first-set lead against Class 5A’s No. 3 team in the state.

Instead of chastising his players during the sudden break, Bennett offered a little advice and an explanation.

“I told the girls that we had a little bit of a Duncanville hangover,” he said. “We didn’t go for a couple of balls early, and we were just a little flat-footed. There weren’t any magical words I said. They just turned it around.”

And quickly. Westlake reeled off a 21-5 run to close out the first set with ease and rolled to a 25-14, 25-15, 25-12 win to improve to 8-1. Senior setter Avery Edwards keyed the rout with 26 assists as Westlake flashed a balanced offense. Five Chaps had at least five kills, including Paige Caridi, who tallied a match-high nine kills. The junior outside hitter also blocked 2 ½ shots.

“I thought our offense was really balanced,” Edwards said. “It’s great to have everyone swing like that. I could go to any girl out there tonight. There’s not one standout on this team; everyone is just playing really well.”

Junior outside hitter Cailin Bula, who started the match on the right side, had four of her seven kills in the first set. Hannah Hood had seven kills on the outside, and middle blockers Kenzie Hume and Hannah Baptiste combined for 11 kills.

Bennett quickly credited Edwards, a two-year starter in the Chaps’ 6-2 rotation, for her ball distribution.

““She played a great match tonight,” he said. “Our offense was really good, and our middles did a good job. Everyone got involved.”

Still, Westlake’s ability to get to balls turned the match around against a tenacious Canyon bunch that forced a series of lengthy rallies. After their slow start, the Chaps matched Canyon dig for dig and overwhelmed the Cougars at the net.

“They [Canyon] played great defense, and rallies were long,” Edwards said. “But we terminated more often that they did.”

The Chaps had just three hitting errors in the match and served only four errors. They had 40 kills for a ratio that pleased even Bennett.

“Canyon played hard and stayed in points, but when we’re low error like that, we’re hard to beat,” he said. “That’s gotta be our MO for the rest of the season.”

Becca Stark led Canyon with eight kills.