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Uncharacteristic Errors Cost River Ridge In Region Semifinal

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - For one game Tuesday night, River Ridge looked like a volleyball team destined to make its way deep into the playoffs.

The Royal Knights dominated Brandon and won Game 1 with ease.

It was the final three games that proved detrimental to River Ridge, as Brandon completely turned the momentum and went on to win the Class 5A region semifinal match, 13-25, 25-20, 25-16, 26-24.

"We had so many unforced errors, and that's one thing we were focusing on not doing," River Ridge coach Heidi Castelamare said. "Mis-hits, mis-serves, marginal errors."

Those errors didn't materialize until Brandon tied Game 2 at 11 when River Ridge (23-6) played the ball into the net.

That started a series of nine errors, including hitting errors, net violations and ball-handling miscues.

"We were just killing ourselves, beating ourselves, and that's unlike us," Castelamare said.

In addition to taking advantage of the mistakes, Brandon setter Lindsey Watson fed her middle hitters most of the night, which proved to be an effective strategy.

Eagles middle hitters Audra Geniesse and Megan Fenzau combined for 14 kills. The most damage came in Game 4, when Fenzau had seven of her nine kills.

"Our middles can flat-out play," Brandon coach Amy Watson said. "If they don't pass, they're not going to be there. It's really hard to run your middles. We have some of the best middles in Hillsborough County. One being a senior Fenzau and one being a sophomore Geniesse. If we can't deliver the ball, they can't put it up there."

It was a Geniesse kill that finished the match and ended River Ridge's season.

The Royal Knights overcame a season-opening stunner when they went to Land O' Lakes and lost in three games. They bounced back to win 12 consecutive matches. During that streak, River Ridge defeated state-ranked Ponte Vedra Beach Nease (then No. 6 in 4A) and Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons (then No. 1 in 4A).

The squad also won its 11th district championship and ninth Sunshine Athletic Conference title.

"It's real disappointing, obviously," Castelamare said. "I expected to go a little bit further with the girls. I think, as a whole, we have a better team than Brandon does. They had some key players they got the ball to and put it where we weren't, because we weren't making the adjustments that we needed to make.

"But I'm proud of my girls. They're a great group of kids, it's been great to coach them some for three years, some for two."

River Ridge will lose five seniors - Brooke Castelamare, Brittney Frey, Kelly Hughes, Emily Lehman and Lauren Sansonetti - while returning seven, many of whom were regulars in the rotation.

"The group next year," Heidi Castelamare said, "will have a lot of work to do to stay at that level."

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