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River Ridge Volleyball Comfortable As SAC Champs

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EDDIE DANIELS

edaniels@tampatrib.com

Published: October 23, 2008

ZEPHRYHILLS - Some things just go together naturally.

Dutch apple pie and vanilla ice cream, chocolate and milk, Saturday afternoons and the beach.

At River Ridge, it's Royal Knights volleyball and the Sunshine Athletic Conference championship.

River Ridge traveled to Zephyrhills Thursday night, collecting a 25-10, 25-15, 25-18 victory against the Bulldogs, giving the Royal Knights (21-4) their eighth consecutive SAC crown. It's the 11th overall title for the program.

"The girls put in a lot of hard work and a lot of time," River Ridge coach Heidi Castelamare said. "We do a lot of conditioning in the summer. It's just putting all that stuff together [and] since I see them from the sixth grade on, it's really getting to the point and level they need to be at.

"The competition in Pasco County is getting tougher and tougher every year, so to be able to execute and adjust and be able to stay on top or one of the top teams is fabulous. It gets to the point where people expect us to do real well, so it really puts a lot of pressure on us."

Thursday was a night where River Ridge moved the ball around on attacks and used a daunting service game from junior Gabriella Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who is the Royal Knights' setter, finished the night with 11 aces, seven of which came in Game 3, as well as 18 assists.

"We've been practicing serving a lot and I try to focus a lot when I'm serving, so I don't make mistakes," Gonzalez said. "That's the worst thing. I played in Brazil and there, you can't miss serves. So I just try to focus as hard as I can and use what we practiced."

In Game 1, River Ridge opened up with a comfortable 15-4 advantage, forcing Zephyrhills into a timeout. The game came to a close when Gonzalez set middle hitter Leah Mitchell in the center of the attack for the kill.

In between Games 1 and 2, Zephyrhills coach Dan Muir gathered his girls and told them they need to pick up the intensity.

"It's a challenge," he said. "Go get 'em!"

With that, the Bulldogs took a 4-1 lead before River Ridge tied the game, 5-5. Alex Laton's three aces in conjunction with Zephyrhills hitting errors, forged River Ridge ahead, 17-7.

Laton ended the second game with a block as Zephyrhills attempted to attack from its right side.

Of Gonzalez's first five serves in Game 3, four were aces. During her opening serves, she helped give the Royal Knights an insurmountable, 12-0 advantage. That lead allowed River Ridge to rotate players out and helped the team withstand a 14-7 run by the Bulldogs.

"Our first game was really good," Castelamare said. "We played up to the level we were supposed to play. We were playing well defensively. We really stressed defense a lot lately and you could see it in our first game of the match. They were moving well, diving around, digging balls up; not a lot of errors. So we played real well."

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

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