Land O' Lakes Volleyball Displays Grit Against Gulf

On looks alone, one would be hard-pressed to figure out who was the victor Wednesday night inside Gulf's Bever-Hicks Memorial Activity Center.
Land O' Lakes volleyball coach Michelle Griffin confessed it was the type of match her team needed, while Gulf coach Chris Vergnaud beamed, sporting an unfading grin.
In actuality, it was the Gators who collected the 25-16, 25-14, 23-25, 25-14 victory.
"I think I can honestly say this is the first time where we lost and we actually had the ability to come back and bring it on," Griffin said. "I was proud of them today. They kept up their intensity no matter what. Our biggest problem this year has been not being able to keep up that momentum, especially when we're down and this is the first game they've ever held their own."
For a healthy portion of Game 1, the Gators (5-14) held a slight advantage, but could not pull ahead comfortably. Breathing room came as Gulf cut the deficit to 15-14. A Gulf (1-15) hitting error, combined with two consecutive aces by Ashley Libernini, pushed that Gators lead to 18-14. Land O' Lakes concluded Game 1 with a 10-1 run.
Land O' Lakes rode that momentum in Game 2, collecting a 25-14 win.
It was Game 3, in which the Gators were tested and Vergnaud saw a bright future for his young group.
After tying that game on six different occasions, Gulf began to pull ahead. Helping matters for the Bucs was the play of sophomore setter Lucy Vega, who exploited the Land O' Lakes middle, giving them a bevy of Chelsea Van Denkooy and Shyann Lisle.
Van Denkooy ended that game with six kills.
"We've been doing a lot of mental work and trying to get everybody focused," said Vergnaud, in his first season as Bucs head coach. "A lot of preparing them for tough games like this.
"Volleyball's a mental game, so as long as you have the mental and the skills to go along with it, and the girls have the skills. It's just a lot of the mental stuff that we're trying to put together."
Land O' Lake bounced back in Game 4, building a 21-9 advantage at one point. Meghan Keough brought the night to an end with her textbook kill from a Angella Dellapenn set.