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Volleyball: Ridgewood's youth no issue in victory

Staff photo by ERIC HORCHY

Ridgewood senior Sarangeles Cruz blocks a shot at the net.

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - In most cases, when a young team finds itself in a hole, it stays there.

Tuesday night, the Ridgewood volleyball team found itself in a 1-0 hole against Land O' Lakes and considering the Rams start three freshmen – they fall into the young category.

Despite that youth, the squad buckled down, beating Land O' Lakes 21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-11.

"I felt we came out flat," Ridgewood coach Amber Starkey said. "So the focus in the second game was to come out with more intensity and more enthusiasm than the first game. Once the girls did that, then I felt like we had control from there on out."

In Game 1, Land O' Lakes (2-5) jumped ahead 4-0 after three Rams hitting errors and an ace by Morgan Crescent. After the game was tied, 5-5, Sarangelys Cruz crushed a set by Madison Pretto for their first advantage of the night.

The teams swapped the lead four times, but it was the Gators who held on to collect a victory in the opening game.

Game 2 had the markings of another Gators victory when two kills by Jessica Johnson and another form Nicole Woodard put Land O' Lakes up, 3-0. That would have been an easy moment for a youthful Ridgewood (9-1) to wilt under the pressure.

After a net violation and two Land O' Lakes hitting errors, Ridgewood put a cholke hold on that opportunity. Cruz, a senior, finished off an attack with a kill and the Rams never looked back. Ridgewood went on a 20-5 run at that point and eventually took Game 2, 25-16.

"We just believe in ourselves, that's what we did," said Cruz, who ended the night with 21 kills. "We put the ball in play and let them make the mistakes.

"It was hard because we started down (and had to) come back again and then in the second game we started down. It was pretty tough. We had to concentrate."

The first 29 points in Game 3 were back and fourth. During that stretch, Land O' Lakes held the lead four times, while Ridgewood held the advantage just twice. Additionally, the game was knotted on five separate occasions. The Rams finally began to pull away when Mary Kujak put the team ahead, 17-14, on a serve that tipped off the net and fell in front of the Gators serve receive.

"We're just having some issues right now with inconsistency," Land O' Lakes coach Michelle Griffin said. "When they are playing at their best, I think they're a team that can win districts. I think a lot of it, too, has to do with they're young. Most of my starters are young."

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