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Sickles Sweeps Into Region Semifinals

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By NICK WILLIAMS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 1, 2007

TAMPA - The Sickles volleyball program hadn't advanced past the first round of the region tournament since 2004, but on Wednesday, the Gryphons, ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 6A state poll, got over that hump, defeating visiting Sarasota 25-21, 25-23, 25-16 to advance to the Class 6A-Region 2 semifinals.

Sickles will host Durant on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

'The last time we won district in 2004, we made it to the semifinals, and these seniors were freshman,' Sickles coach Rob Brashear said. 'It feels great for them. They did it as freshmen and they did it again. I think they wanted to make a statement.'

The Gryphons (23-4) were led by senior outside hitter Sara Vance, who finished with 16 kills and four aces, and junior setter Madison Comperry, who had 29 assists and seven digs.

'We served them off the court,' Brashear said. 'We did all of the intangibles. We did a good job blocking and on defense.'

'Our goal was to finally beat Countryside and get past the first round, and we did both,' Vance said. 'We wanted it bad. We said, if they scored, we made sure it had to be an amazing point.'

COUGARS ADVANCE: Durant looked like a team on a mission, dropping only one game en route to win over Countryside 25-13, 25-21, 9-25, 26-24.

The Class 6A-Region 2 quarterfinal victory was especially sweet for host Durant, because Countryside got the upper hand last year.

'It was a good win, we lost to Countryside in regional first round last year' Durant coach Dawn Hough said. 'They wanted the victory really bad, because it's a team they have a rivalry with.'

Durant (19-6) got off to quick start, barely breaking a sweat in the first two games and looked to have a solid grip on the match leading 2-0.

But in the third game, Countryside (23-4) came out firing on all cylinders, using runs of 7-0, 8-0, and 6-0 to erase any thoughts of an easy sweep by Durant.

The Cougars shook off the setback and jumped out to a quick lead in the fourth game, but Countryside wouldn't let go without a fight and eventually tied the game at 24.

Durant quickly answered back, winning the next two points to eliminate the Cougars.

'We knew we could pull through, we've done it before,' Durant junior Chelsea Morris said. 'Last year, they beat us pretty bad, but we didn't play our hardest. This year we made it happen.'

Morris led Durant's offensive attack with 12 kills on the night, followed by senior Aly Anzalone with eight kills. Senior Alexa Donini also had a solid night for the Cougars, recording nine digs, four aces, and 29 assists.

Jeffrey Jones

Class 4A

ZEPHYRHILLS OUSTED: In preparation for its match against Orlando Bishop Moore, Zephyrhills practiced against taller basketball players, simulating the Hornets' blocking abilities.

The tactic worked, but it wasn't enough as Bishop Moore collected a 25-17, 25-13, 25-17 victory, advancing to Tuesday's Class 4A-Region 3 semifinals against the Brooksville Nature Coast/Groveland South Lake winner.

The Bulldogs' front row play held Bishop Moore's hitters in check at times, frustrating the group.

'They were shutting down our biggest hitter, Elena Sorich, and she was getting frustrated and she didn't know what to do,' Hornets coach Piper Morgan said.

In Game 1, Bishop Moore (23-6) built an early lead and held on, despite brief spurts by Zephyrhills (23-5). In that game, Zephyrhills finished just five attacks.

Zephyrhills fell behind 17-5 in Game 2 and couldn't make up the difference down the stretch.

In the final game, Zephyrhills was able to stay close, going on a 5-0 run out of a timeout. A kill by Kristen Arnold built momentum, and a block by Arnold and Taylor Willis forced the Hornets to call a timeout after its advantage shrank to 17-16.

'They didn't lay down and die,' Zephyrhills coach Tiffany Bibby said. 'They had a lot of fight in them and people stepped up. ... My four seniors Arnold, Jessica Davis, Jessica McCall and Kayla Wright really stuck together, and I could not be more blessed with the eight girls I have. My Great Eight.'

Eddie Daniels

Class 2A

NORTHSIDE MOVES ON: Both Northside Christian coach Holly Filer and her star player Kayla Walton insisted they weren't in a hurry to attend any festivities Wednesday night.

But you wouldn't have known that by their actions in a 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23 Class 2A-Region 3 quarterfinal win by the host Mustangs against Fort Myers Canterbury.

Having quickly taken the second and third games after dropping the opener, Northside Christian saw Canterbury on the verge of sending the match to a fifth game when Filer called a timeout with Canterbury leading 22-18.

The Mustangs then proceeded to outscore Canterbury 7-1 to win the fourth game and the match 25-23.

'I was looking for some momentum from our group,' Filer said of her timeout. 'I told them to come out swinging. I wanted them to bloody some noses. Thank goodness they didn't take too much longer to respond. I challenged their gut, their fight. Where was their heart? You send messages when you win matches.'

Lee Diekemper

KESWICK FALLS: Fort Myers Evangelical Christian took care of Keswick Christian in the Class 2A region quarterfinals, winning 25-4, 25-7, 25-19, in a match that lasted less than a hour.

Keswick Christian (11-14) watched as the Sentinels (23-5) - who were the 2A runner-up last year and state champions in 2005 - cruise out to big leads in each of the first two games. Keswick Christian coach Lindsey Crosby said her players might have been intimidated by ECS's size.

'Our girls are smaller than their girls,' Crosby said. 'Thing is, when we play our game we can play with anyone.'

Keswick Christian showed that in the final game, as it took advantage of some ECS mistakes and their own improved play to hang with the Sentinels the whole game. ECS had only an 18-17 lead in Game 3 before it rallied to outscore Keswick Christian 7-2 down the stretch.

Sophomore Carey Froelicher and senior Chelsea Wozniak led Keswick Christian with four kills apiece. Freshman setter Cassie Foster had nine assists.

Matt Postins

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