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Bulldogs, Gators Let Losses Serve As Lesson

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - At the start of last season, the Zephyrhills volleyball team was flying beneath the radar.

No one knew what to expect with new coach Tiffany Bibby, and Zephyrhills had a 14-51 record in the three seasons before she took over. By season's end, the Bulldogs were a huge spot on the radar, posting a 22-7 record and reminding everyone not to make assumptions.

On the eve of this season, the squad still felt unnoticed.

'People still don't think we can do it? We're going to do it again,' Bibby said, recounting the sentiment of her players. 'My kids were like, 'We're not a flash in the pan, we're not a one-hit wonder, we're going to do it again this year.'

'I think that was initially the drive for this season.'

The team set goals to at least split matches with Hudson and Nature Coast and secure a No. 1 or 2 seed in the district.

In Week 2, the Bulldogs showed everyone how serious they were with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 victory against Class 4A-District 8 titan Hudson.

In line with its goals, Zephyrhills (20-4) earned a season split against Hudson and Nature Coast, won Crystal River's River Classic, finished 8-0 against 4A-8 competition and is the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, hosted by Hudson.

Although the Bulldogs sit atop the district, the team does not enter with a sense of complacency. Three of the team's four losses came in the final week-and-a-half of the regular season. The worst of the defeats came in the season finale against River Ridge (21-25, 16-25, 18-25).

'Not only was it humbling for them, but it was an eye-opener for sure,' Bibby said. 'It's very fresh on their minds. ... They feel like they want to make up for that.'

Land O' Lakes is another team looking forward to making up for the last portion of its season. The Gators (16-9) began as one of the top teams in Pasco County, winning their first seven matches, including an upset victory against River Ridge.

After dropping four of their last five matches, the Gators enter the 5A-7 tournament as the No. 2 seed and they are itching to return to their early-season form.

In practices leading up to the tournament, which begins Tuesday at River Ridge, Land O' Lakes has been less occupied with the usual things such as sets and kills and has been focused on what led to those nine losses.

'Right now, for us, it's basically going to take us working on some of the things that I guess we didn't realize we needed to work on,' Land O' Lakes coach Michelle Griffin said. 'I'd say we thought we were better than we were and we didn't really think we had too much to work on.

'After we played those games, we realized what those weaknesses were because the other teams were basically using our weaknesses against us.'

Case in point, River Ridge, the top seed in Class 5A-District 7 and the Sunshine Athletic Conference champion, made the second meeting look easy in a 25-11, 25-15, 25-15, victory. The Royal Knights forced Land O' Lakes to hit down the outside boundary, using slide rotations on defense. They also moved the ball around well on offensive attacks.

'I think it's been a good thing and a bad thing,' Griffin said of the losing. 'It did cause a little bit of a strain on our team emotionally, losing all those games, but at the same time, I think it needs to be done, because I think the girls needed to realize they were going to have to work harder in order to achieve their goal of actually moving on past districts.'

As will everyone else involved.

The top two teams advance to the regional tournament, with district winners hosting and runner-ups traveling.

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