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Devils whip Bulldogs

Mark Pinson, Highlands Today

Avon Park's Tia Nobles battles at the net with Frostproof's Madison Yungman (9) and Emily Spencer (2) during Tuesday night's Class 3A-District 9 tournament in Mulberry. The Red Devils defeated the Bulldogs in five sets to advance to Wednesday night's semifinals against top-seeded Lake Placid.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: October 29, 2009

MULBERRY - The Avon Park volleyball team worked harder than expected in eliminating Frostproof from the Class 3A-District 9 tournament on Tuesday night.

The Red Devils, the No. 4 seed, had to rally for a 25-16, 26-28, 13-25, 25-22, 15-12 win over the fifth-seeded Bulldogs.

"That was like a pig with lipstick," said a relieved Avon Park coach Stephanie Devlin. "A win is a win and we were up against it, but we came back with a good effort.

"The girls got down on themselves when we fell behind, but I told them to forget about that and play for each other and they fought back to keep our season alive."

After breezing to an easy win in the first set behind dominating net play from Tia Nobles and Heather Bass, and strong serving from Teresa Devlin and Iris Cotte, Avon Park watched as Frostproof won the next two sets to put the Red Devils on the brink of a stunning elimination from the seven-team tournament.

"We stopped moving our feet and Frostproof did a good job of hitting their serves to different areas on the floor," said Coach Devlin. "We were a step slow, our service return was off and we got away from doing the things that worked for us in the first set.

"Frostproof did a good job of taking us out of our game, but I told the girls to refocus, set the ball up and start being aggressive."

The words of encouragement worked because Avon Park responded with a sterling come-from-behind effort to steal the fourth set and force a deciding 15-point set.

"This team has a big heart and we showed it in the fourth set," said Coach Devlin. "We never quit, we played smart and made Frostproof work for very point.

"We knew it was now or never and if we didn't win, we were going to get on the bus and the season was over."

The last set went back and forth with neither team able to pull away by more than two points.

Avon Park's Zakia Hart, who finished with six kills, and Nobles, who had seven kills and four blocks, had several spikes to fuel the Red Devils, and Devlin and Ashley Chacon scored key points with their devastating serves.

With the score tied at 12 in the final set, the Red Devils took advantage of a Bulldogs miscue to take the lead, and Cotte closed out the match with a pair of aces to seal the hard-fought win.

The victory set up a semifinal match against top-seeded Lake Placid on Wednesday night, a team that swept Avon Park twice in the regular season.

"Lake Placid is a real good team and we know we're going to have our hands full," said the Red Devils skipper. "But the pressure is on them and we have nothing to lose because they're supposed to beat us.

"We're going to have play hard and compete for every point and the girls have been talking about playing Lake Placid and I know they're going to be ready to play."

For the complete story from Wednesday night's match between Avon Park and Lake Placid, be sure to read Friday's Highlands Today sports section.

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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