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Highlands Today

Devils Kick-Start Season With Rally Win

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Avon Park's Melissa Tullo, left, and Daija Barrett block Frostproof's shot at the net during the third game of the Sebring Pre Season Classic on Tuesday.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: August 28, 2008

SEBRING - Shame on any Avon Park Red Devil fans that left after the first two games of Tuesday's Sebring Preseason Classic.

The Red Devils appeared all but cooked by an energized and much-improved Frostproof squad, but new AP coach Stephanie Devlin found the right buttons to push to lift her team to a five-game, come-from-behind victory over the Bulldogs.

"I just told them it was do or die after that second game," Devlin said. "I saw that we had the first game jitters out there. The girls have been learning a new offense and it hasn't become natural for them yet, but I knew they could play better than they had been during the first two games."

With the win, Avon Park will face host and arch-rival Sebring in the tournament finale tonight at 7:30 p.m.

The win was the first for Devlin, who saw numerous good things from the gutsy performance her team displayed.

"We showed that we can come back from adversity," Devlin said. "They communicated very well for a young team, and they played much more aggressively at the net, which helped us not give up too many easy points.

"This is the kind of play I want to see out of this team every night, no matter who we play."

After losing the first two games 25-20 and 25-15, Avon Park limped back to the bench and had the look of a team that was utterly defeated. But Devlin didn't get fired up and yell at her players like one would think. What she did do was talk her team and coaches through the adversity they were feeling on the court.

"Coach Devlin is amazing. She coaches us even when we're on the floor," said AP senior Daija Barrett. "We were all nervous and played like it at the beginning, but we made some adjustments and played the game like it was our last."

That's all the motivation that the Red Devils needed as they kept the third game close early on. With the score tied at 14, Avon Park went on an 11-4 run to take the game and give them the momentum they needed to press on.

AP stormed out to a 15-4 lead in the fourth game on the aggressive play at the net by Barrett, who had three kills and two aces during the run, and the defensive pressure by Brearnna Tate and Melissa Tullo, who made it difficult for the Bulldogs to get easy shots.

The Red Devils cruised to a 25-16 win to set up a fifth game tiebreaker, where Avon Park kept up the intensity at the net to breeze to a 10-4 lead and never looked back, winning the tiebreaker 15-8.

To see the AP girls celebrate after the match, you'd have thought they'd won the state title, but Tullo put the game into perspective.

"This team has a lot of beginners, and I'm so proud of how we hung in there and didn't give up," Tullo said. "We were shaky going in, but I really think this is indicative of how this team is going to play this year.

"We're not going to just give up, even when it's preseason."

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5827 or at choffman@highlandstoday.com.

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