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Green Reigns Supreme

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Tara Weeks hits a shot toward the outstretched hands of Sebring's Molly Blackman during the Green Dragons five-set win over the Blue Streaks on Tuesday.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: September 13, 2007

SEBRING –– Its cool to be green.

Time for the Green Dragon fans in Lake Placid to rejoice and wear your green with pride.

The 3A Green Dragon girls volleyball team pulled off a stunning upset over the highly touted Sebring Blue Streaks in a five-set battle that came down to who wanted it more on Tuesday night.

That team was Lake Placid, wich got great play at the net by Kristen Massung, Tara Weeks and Sierra Weaver to overcome the much bigger Blue Streaks.

"The girls played so good tonight," LP head coach Marilyn Jones said. "Sebring fought back hard and I have to take my hat off to them. This is a good rivalry between these two schools. I wish that Venessa [Sinness] could win every game except when she plays us.

"This is not an easy building to play in. Their fans were cheering them on and it got pretty loud in here but we fought through that. The turning point was that we played like we wanted it and anytime you can get a win against Sebring, it is cause for celebration."

Lake Placid improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Blue Streaks suffer their first loss of the season and fall to 4-1.

Jones credits the recent tournaments that Lake Placid took part in at LaBelle and Okeechobee that helped prepare her squad to face off against the 4A Streaks.

"The tournaments we played in recently have really helped prepare this team," Jones said. "We played against some really good teams and that helped these girls believe that they could win against any team."

Lake Placid showed plenty of desire and confidence in the tiebreaker, as Weeks kept her team focused on defense and had three kills to give the Green Dragons a four-point lead –– a lead they would not relinquish, as Weaver and Massung had kills down the stretch and Lake Placid celebrated the 15-10 win on Blue Streak turf.

Sebring's fall from grace was something more shocking for the fans in attendance, as the Blue Streaks were outplayed by Lake Placid from the middle of game one, dropping the first two games before beginning to wake up as a team.

"I have 10 great players but not a great team," Sebring head coach Venessa Sinness said. "When you start the first game up 15-6 and lose then something is wrong.

"I don't know if we are losing focus or what, but we can't have those kind of momentum swings."

Sebring looked at ease early on, streaking to a 15-6 lead, as the size advantage looked to be too much for the Green Dragons to overcome.

After a time out, Lake Placid found the right rhythm on the court, as Massung and Weaver had two kills each and Julie Shrewsbury served two aces during a 12-3 Green Dragon run that re-energized the squad.

Sebring regained the lead and had a two-point advantage late in the game, but Lake Placid scored the final four points for the win.

Now any team can get lucky against a much better team in one game, but the Green Dragons showed that they were for real, putting Sebring on its heals in the second game, as they stormed out to a commanding 17-7 lead, before dispatching the Streaks moments later with a 25-15 win.

"Sebring was in a tailspin and playing uncharacteristically selfish for a seasoned team such as the Blue Streaks. Sinnesss pleaded with her team to play as a team and get back to basics –– protect the net and set up good shots.

That formula worked in the interim, as the Blue Streaks played the power game they were known for, taking a commanding 15-7 lead on quality passes and overall team play. Lake Placid regrouped and Weaver had three kills and a block to cut the lead to one, but Sebring held off the young Green Dragons for a 25-20 win.

The best overall game of the match was the fourth game, as Sebring scored the first seven points of the game before Lake Placid responded with seven of its own to tie the game. That was the theme of the game –– each team would score in bunches and the other team would respond in bunches –– that kept the game close throughout. With the game tied at 23, Blue Streak junior Hannah Shoop had two kills, as Sebring staved off elimination with a 25-23 win.

That euphoria wouldn't last and Sebring it let with wondering how they left this happen on its home court. Sinness believes the answer lies within her players.

"It's up to them to get mentally prepared," Sinness said. "They have to believe in themselves. Some girls are not doing their part. If someone gets blocked, that player should know that their team is there to back her up. We don't have much of that on this team.

"What is hurting this team is that we don't have that one girl to step up and lead. I don't care if it is a senior or an underclassman. It doesn't matter to me what age a girl is, if you want to be a leader then lead."

Weaver led the way for the Green Dragons with a game-high 17 kills, 13 digs and was 11-for-13 on serves, while Massung and Weeks each had 11 kills in the win.

Sebring's Rachel Ashley finished with 31 assists, while Molly Blackman and Shoop chipped in nine kills each for the Blue Streaks.

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