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VOLLEYBALL: This Time, Hudson Gets Upper Hand

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS – The last time Hudson stared through the net at Zephyrhills, the Bulldogs were celebrating a three-game sweep against the Cobras on Hudson's home court.

A month later, Hudson repaid the favor.

The Cobras collected a 21-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 17-15 victory Tuesday night in a match that could preview the Class 4A-District 8 finals.

This was a match of mental fortitude for each squad. In Game 1, Zephyrhills (18-2) stormed back from a 14-7 deficit to tie the match at 15-15. From that point, the Bulldogs began to build a small advantage only to have Hudson (16-5) creep back. Jessica McCall broke the 15-15 tie, as well as the 16-16 deadlock and also collected a crucial block and a put back in the first game. Eventually, Zephyrhills took Game 1, 25-21.

Hudson jumped ahead 11-3 in Game 2 and never had its lead challenged. The Bulldogs' hitting errors combined with Hudson's key hitting from Lara Metz gave Hudson the easy 25-18 Game 2 win.

"They showed some good mental toughness. I think we were trying to overcome a lot of that," Hudson coach Linda McQuade said. "We told them to not change the way you play the game because when the score gets tight they tend to change their play. Just play like you played in the first game; the second and third it's the same thing."

In Game 3, Zephyrhills, which recived votes in this week's Class 4A state volleyball poll, went down 21-19 on a Metz kill, after a sideout and two hitting errors by Hudson, the Bulldogs were ahead 22-21, forcing the Cobras into a timeout. A hitting error by the Bulldogs tied the match, 22-22, but Zephyrhills' Kayla Wright collected a kill to regain the lead.

A McCall kill and a hitting error by Hudson gave the Bulldogs Game 3, 26-24.

"No, they didn't get down as much as they have in the past, in past years any way," Zephyrhills coach Tiffany Bibby said. "Last year it was a big problem of ours, as soon as we got down, we tended to scale back a little bit and play a little bit scared and I don't think we did that [tonight]."

Hudson labored through a good job of ball distribution from Zephyrhills setters Kristen and Lindsay Arnold to notch a 25-22 win in Game 4.

The final game was even for the majority of the contest. At one point, the Cobras had a 12-9 cushion, but that lasted briefly. Zephyrhills tied the game, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14 an 15-15. Hudson went ahead 16-15 on a Shannon Zasloff kill and an errant kill attempt by Zephyrhills ended the match.

"We got in rough spots and we'd get ahead and we'd get comfortable with ourselves and drop back," Hudson setter Mary Cook said. "We just had to keep telling ourselves to push and work together and keep a steady pace."

Hudson will host Land O' Lakes on Wednesday, while Zephyrhills will host Pasco on Monday.

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or edaniels@tampatrib.com.

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