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Wildcats Finishing Strong

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By EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: October 17, 2008

Updated: 10/17/2008 03:47 am

WESLEY CHAPEL - The way Wildcats coach Perri Hankins sees it, her team is finally finding its footing.

It's a point she hoped her team would reach a little earlier, but since she was hired shortly before the season began, she and her Wesley Chapel crew got a late start on the season. As they say, better late than never.

After two players were injured late in the season, the Wildcats also had to make lineup changes, but they nearly pulled off a victory last week against Wiregrass Ranch with the new look.

"We're just getting our rhythm, and we can't see it through. It's like we need another month," Hankins said. "It needs to be like the college season when you play through November. It's too bad. We're improving all the time.

"You want to be going up at the end of the season. Some teams will be going down or plateauing. We're going to stay fresh, and you want to get that peak at the right time. That's what's exciting about right now. We will be hungry, we will be peaking and we're hopefully going to knock somebody off."

SAC RACE: River Ridge remains unbeaten in the Sunshine Athletic Conference, followed by Hudson. The Cobras (14-7) suffered that lone SAC loss to River Ridge on Sept. 18.

If the Royal Knights (16-3) get a victory in its regular-season finale against Zephyrhills on Oct. 23, they will win SAC title No. 10. It would be their seventh crown in eight seasons.

If River Ridge stumbles, Hudson will earn a share of the title if it remains with one loss in the county, according to Royal Knights coach Heidi Castelamare.

DISTRICT TIME: Local district tournaments will begin next week. Here are the locations and the teams involved:

Class 6A-District 7, at Gaither: First game, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.; Championship, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.; Teams: Alonso, Countryside, Gaither, Mitchell, St. Petersburg, Sickles.

Class 5A-District 7 at Ridgewood: First game, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.; Championship, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.; Teams: Central, Land O'Lakes, Ridgewood, River Ridge, Wesley Chapel.

Class 4A-District 8 at Wiregrass Ranch: First game, Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m.; Championship, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.; Teams: Gulf, Hernando, Hudson, Nature Coast, Pasco, Springstead, Sunlake, Wiregrass, Zephyrhills.

Class 2A-District 9 at Tampa Prep: First game, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.; Championship, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.; Teams: Bishop McLaughlin, Calvary Christian, Indian Rocks Christian, Tampa Prep.

GEARING UP FOR CRUNCH TIME: Before Wednesday night's match against Gulf, Castelamare pointed out that her group of seniors - Rose Gilmartin, Alex Laton, Briana Rish and Irene Townsend - have gone 65-16 over the past three years. Now the group will take its accomplishment into the Bradenton Southeast Lady Noles Tournament as the Royal Knights tune up for the Class 5A-District 7 tournament.

They will face the likes of Belleview and Sarasota Cardinal Mooney, which beat Academy of the Holy Names and Clearwater Central Catholic.

This time around, Castelamare has learned her lesson. Last season, she scheduled tournaments on consecutive weekends and her team appeared mentally tired, which affected their play.

"We just need them to relax and be the young girls and ladies they are," Castelamare said.

MENTAL TRICKS: Wednesday night at the Jim Valentine Athletic Complex, Gulf coach Chris Vergnaud understood what his team was up against - a River Ridge team that has not lost to a county team and was 15-3 entering that contest. His team, on the other hand, is a young group that entered the night 1-17.

The Bucs lost, 25-7, 25-13, 25-14, but they gave the Royal Knights a run in Game 2. In fact, Gulf held the lead for the first portion of that game. During a timeout, Vergnaud told his team to relax and work on the little things. That's when they turned it on.

"You just have to take the edge off of them a little bit," Vergnaud said. "There's so much pressure when it comes to any sport; pressure of getting that 'W.' We've been trying to work with the girls with, 'Let's just work on our technique.'"

Although Thursday night was a losing effort, Vergnaud was excited about the toughness his Bucs displayed.

"We've been told from other coaches we're fighters, and we are," Vergnaud said. "I've got a team that wants to win."

Gulf was led by sophomore Chelsea VanDenKooy's seven kills. She was followed by Lea Burbridge with three and Brittany Evers with two.

VOLLEYBALL STATS: For a full list of the Bay area's volleyball leaders and the state's top performers, please visit www2.tbo.com/sports/preps/.

The Volleyball Notebook will run every Thursday in the Pasco Tribune. Coaches who want to add their team's information can submit their entries to Eddie Daniels by calling (813) 948-4214 or e-mailing edaniels@tampa-

trib.com.

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