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Volleyball: Ridgewood falls in 3

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The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - The points kept mounting, the deficit kept growing and no one could blame the Nature Coast Lady Sharks if they started thinking "here we go again."

They were staring at not only a 7-0 hole out of the gate in the first game of Wednesday night's Class 4A-Region 2 quarterfinal against Ridgewood, but also five years of failure in this very playoff round.

"I was that close to a timeout," Nature Coast coach Dan Murphy said. "I have that much confidence in my team. This team does not give up."

No, it did not. Where their predecessors had come up short, this version stepped up, battling back to sweep the Rams 25-18, 25-18, 25-19.

"It wasn't an easy breakthrough," Murphy said. "We tried our darnedest to make it tough. Ridgewood stepped up their game tonight."

Alex Livengood had 18 kills for Nature Coast (21-8), which will travel to Hudson for Tuesday's semifinals. Sarangelys Cruz posted nine kills to pace Ridgewood (19-9).

"They're a tough team," Ridgewood coach Amber Starkey said. "Every aspect of their game is tough.

"We weren't able to answer it."

Chris Bernhardt

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