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Win May Be Pivotal For Wiregrass Ranch

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By EDDIE DANIELS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Up to last week, the biggest victory the fledgling Wiregrass Ranch volleyball program had under its belt was a season-opening victory against Pasco earlier this month.

The Pirates' status had been downgraded.

On Sept. 10, the Bulls collected a 15-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12 triumph against visiting Mitchell.

"It was a battle of wills, to be honest with you," second-year Wiregrass coach Mindy Kantor said. "We wanted it more. The girls wanted it. We knew going in that week we had three rough games. We had just come off of a loss to Nature Coast in four and being called scrappy.

"It fired them up knowing that we hung with Nature Coast. Going into the Mitchell game, I told them, 'If you play them the way you played Nature Coast we will beat Mitchell.' And we came out on top."

Sounds like she nailed it.

The Bulls, who entered Wednesday night's match with a 4-3 record, finished 6-15 in 2007. So, what has led to this transition?

After two volleyball camps in which Saint Leo came to the Wiregrass campus, followed by a trip to Florida Southern, the players have transferred what they've learned to the court. In addition to the leadership of Shawna Ballish (Sr., S/RS), Tess Chase (Sr., OH) and Collen McCaffrey (Jr., OH), the team has two solid defensive specialists in Anna Arroyo and Ellen Tonness.

The squad has four players serving better than 90 percent (Ballish, 96.9; Ellen Toneff, 94.1; Chase, 93.7 and Arroyo, 93.3).

"That's major, because if you can't serve, you're giving up points," Kantor said. "And our defense has improved tremendously."

THREE-AND-OUT: Land O' Lakes lost three of last season's seniors to the college ranks. Kayli Keough is playing basketball at Florida State, though she likely could have played volleyball; Jessica Bryant is playing volleyball at Saint Leo; Danielle Priest is playing volleyball at Hillsborough Community College.

Take three players of that caliber out of any lineup and a team will see growing pains.

After firing out of the gate in 2007 with a win against River Ridge, the Gators are 2-3 entering Wednesday night's matchup against Pasco.

Though barely beneath the .500 mark, Land O' Lakes coach Michelle Griffin expects her team to hit its stride as the season progresses.

"I've been seeing improvements throughout the season," Griffin said. "Honestly, I believe by the time we get to districts, we have the potential to beat some of those team's we've been losing against."

One of the tactics Griffin has implemented is a film session following games. They figure out what went wrong and set a goal of correcting those mistake in the next game.

The team also moved from a 5-1 to a 4-2 offense, and as the season and the team's abilities progress, that will evolve into other styles of running the offense.

LEADERSHIP, COME ON DOWN: When River Ridge lost Brooke Castelamare, Brittney Frey, Emily Lehman, Lauren Sansonetti and Kelly Hughes to graduation, it lost plenty of leadership.

But what it lacks in leadership, it has gained in athletic ability.

"I return a bunch of strong players, as far as physically strong," River Ridge coach Heidi Castelamare said. "Leah Mitchell is very strong, Alex Laton is very strong. Both of them are very experienced. Brianna Rish, good player, doing very well at the libero position. Sarah Junot is a very strong player.

"So what we've lost in consistency and leadership out there, we've gained in some strength and a little more athletic ability. Irene Townsend, the same thing; a good vertical and great arm swing."

The Royal Knights have collected three-game sweeps in their first seven contests and are undefeated entering Wednesday's matchup against Wiregrass.

The big showdown comes tonight when River Ridge travels to Hudson.

As Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens would say, "Get your popcorn ready."

RESPONSIVE BULLDOGS: New Zephyrhills coach Dan Muir was curious to know how his team would respond to this week's task: hosting Hudson, traveling to Sunlake and hosting Nature Coast. The Bulldogs split the first two matches, beating Sunlake 3-1 on Monday night and losing to Hudson 3-0 on Tuesday. Tonight, they will see what Nature Coast (7-0) has to offer.

"No matter what happens this week, I'm still very pleased with the team we have right now," Muir said. "They're young and they're learning; even in the midst of their learning, they've been able to win. I'm excited about that."

During matches and practices, Muir will spot something the team can work on, whether it's blocking to one side or running its offense from different points on the court. He immediately sees an effort to make the change.

"I've been extremely excited about that," Muir said. "A lot of times, it's not that kids aren't coachable, and it's not that they don't try, but it seems it takes them a little while to get it to go from what they hear in their head to executing it."

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@tampatrib.com.

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