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Knights Keep Fighting

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By EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: November 8, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - River Ridge outside hitter Alex Laton smiled and politely said, "I don't want to talk about it."

What she didn't want to talk about was her team's uncharacteristic errors in Game 3 of their 25-18, 25-15, 25-27, 25-19 victory against Newsome in the Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinals Wednesday night.

The Royal Knights had 11 hitting errors and five service errors, giving Newsome 16 easy points. Although River Ridge's mistakes allowed the Wolves (12-4) to build a 10-point advantage, the Royal Knights could have won the game. They were serving for game point before losing the set.

"We just got in a hole and we kept digging ourselves deeper and deeper," Laton said. "I missed a lot of hits, I know we had a lot of unforced errors. Basically, we just fell apart in that game."

Despite the problems, River Ridge advanced to the region quarterfinals and will travel to Brandon on Tuesday. This matchup, which starts at 7 p.m., is a rematch of last season's Class 5A region semifinal, which Brandon won, 13-25, 25-20, 25-16, 26-24, at the Jim Valentine Athletic Complex.

"Brandon's a tough team. It's going to be a hard match," Newsome coach Shelby Jordan said. "They have some really strong hitters, tough servers. I think it will be a good match. It'll be tough."

For River Ridge to avenge last season's loss and knock off Brandon (24-1), the Royal Knights can't have a repeat of Tuesday night's performance.

"Focus on the basics," River Ridge coach Heidi Castelamare said in reference to what it will take to avoid a similar letdown. "We were doing things fundamentally incorrect. From passing, to hitting free balls over, even communication errors between two people. We get a nice easy roll shot and it would roll into the net. Just relax and play our game instead of playing so tight. Play to win instead of playing not to lose."

Wednesday night, Castelamare said she felt a change take place while the Royal Knights were trailing by 10 in Game 3. The team started gaining traction, and that led to the eventual victory.

"A big reversal in the game was Gabby started to take a little bit more control," Castelamare said of junior setter Gabriella Gonzalez. "She dumped the ball, she served well. She really focused. She put the ball where I asked her to put it."

And if they keep putting the ball where it needs to be, the Royal Knights could be looking at a place in the region final.

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214.

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