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Red Devils Twist Past Tornadoes

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Avon Park's Melissa Tullo returns a serve during Thursday night's Class 4A-District 10 match against Booker.

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By MARK PINSON Highlands Today

Published: October 18, 2008

AVON PARK - The Avon Park volleyball team leaned on its honored seniors on Thursday against Booker in a Class 4A-District 10 match.

After dropping the first two games on senior night, it was only fitting that the upperclassmen responded with a stirring rally to lift the Red Devils to a 20-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-4 win over the Tornadoes.

"I think we were overly excited because it was senior night," said Avon Park senior outside hitter Brearnna Tate. "We were trying too hard, but we settled down, started to communicate and began to play the way we should.

"It means a lot to win on senior night, but it's also kind of sad to know that my high school volleyball career is coming to an end."

The dramatic victory improved the Red Devils to 4-6 in district play, while the loss dropped Booker to 2-8.

"I think we took Booker lightly because we beat them pretty easily at their place," said first-year Avon Park coach Stephanie Devlin. "Our rhythm was off and we had a lot of missed serves, but even though we were down two games, I knew we had the ability to come back.

"We started moving our feet, set the ball better and played aggressive the rest of the match. "This was a big district win because we're in the middle of the pack and we want to be seeded as a high as possible for the district tournament in two weeks."

Booker came out ready to play from the opening point and dominated play at the net with outside hitters Letayvia Butler and Cherlinda Polynice finding the holes in the Red Devils' defense.

The Tornadoes breezed to the first game win and Butler, who finished with a team-high 12 kills, continued her assault in the second game victory.

That would be the lone highlight for the Tornadoes as Avon Park came out with a determined effort and cruised to easy wins in games three and four to force a 15-point finale.

"We weren't expecting this tough of a match against Booker," said Red Devil senior Logan Palmer. "But after we fell behind we came together and started playing with a lot more intensity.

"Heading into the final game wanted to keep the pressure on and we were determined to not give them any easy points."

Senior Sheila Figueroa's strong serving helped Avon Park jump out to a 6-2 lead.

Senior hitter Daija Barrett, who finished with nine kills and three blocks, kept things going with two kills and a pair of aces as the Red Devils increased their lead to 10-3.

There was no stopping the Avon park squad, as Tate had a couple of aces and a spike and a pair of Booker unforced errors put the Red Devils at match point.

The last point was a long rally, but a Tornado spike sailed long to give Avon Park a much-needed district victory.

"It feels so good to win on senior night," said Palmer. "We made it hard on ourselves, but we came though when it mattered.

"I've learned so much this year from Coach Devlin and we've had a lot of fun playing for her this year."

Avon Park has two non-district matches next week before heading to Braden River in two weeks for the district tournament.

"We're looking forward to the district tournament because we've won three matches in a row and we're playing the best we've played all season," said Devlin. "We know it's going to be tough, but if we play with intensity, emotion and stay focused, we can play with any of the teams in the tournament."

Mark Pinson can be reached at 853-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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