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A Green Dragon dynasty

Mark Pinson, Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Sierra Weaver (11), Kayla Summerfield (15) and Elizabeth Barragan (3) take a victory lap around the gym with the Class 3A-District 9 championship trophy after beating McKeel Academy in three sets on Thursday night in Mulberry.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: October 31, 2009

MULBERRY - The Lake Placid volleyball team is making sure veteran Green Dragons coach Marilyn Jones' last season on the bench is a memorable one.

Lake Placid used its athleticism, quickness and lethal combination of outside hitters Sierra Weaver and Marissa Baldwin to overwhelm McKeel Academy (Lakeland) by scores of 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 to win the Class 3A-District 9 championship on Thursday night.

The Green Dragons won the district title for the fifth consecutive year, and the victory earns them a home match in the regional quarterfinals next Tuesday.

"It means so much to win the district championship," said Weaver, who is a team captain and three-year starter. "Coach Jones is a great coach and it's been so much fun playing for her and it's neat that she's going out my final year.

"I was thinking on Senior Night how much I wanted to play another match on our home floor and now we get to play in front of our fans at least one more time."

Lake Placid, the top-seed in the seven-team tournament, came out a bit sluggish in the first set against the third-seeded Wildcats, a team the Green Dragons swept in the regular season.

McKeel, behind the solid play of Madie Cook and Jordan Meche, took a quick 5-3 lead.

"It took us a little while to get started," said Jones. "But once the girls got warmed up and believed they could do it, they couldn't be stopped."

Baldwin, who had eight kills, four blocks and seven aces, was all over the floor and sparked a Lake Placid run of seven consecutive points.

McKeel, a scrappy but undersized squad, battled back with numerous outstanding defensive plays to frustrate the Green Dragons.

Amber Morris ripped a cross-court spike to pull McKeel within 21-18, but Baldwin had a pair of blocks and an ace serve, and a Wildcats error gave Lake Placid the first set.

The Green Dragons, behind solid sets and the powerful blasts of Weaver, who finished with nine kills and five blocks, powered out to a 7-1 lead in the second set.

Lake Placid continued to find holes in the Wildcats defense as senior Kayla Summerfield contributed several kill shots to increase the lead to 21-14.

McKeel refused to fold and tied the set at 21 with the help of some lackadaisical play from the Green Dragons.

But a bad serve gave LP a crucial point, Baldwin served back-to-back aces and Summerfield drilled a spike to put the Green Dragons one win away from the coveted district championship.

"We wanted this title so bad," said Weaver. "Our confidence grew as the match went on and we wanted to make sure we didn't let McKeel back in the match because we saw them lose the first two games to Fort Meade in the semifinals and they came back to win."

Lake Placid came out with plenty of intensity in the final set and raced out to a commanding 9-1 lead behind dominating net play from Baldwin, Weaver and Kylie Weber.

The Green Dragons kept the pressure on the beleaguered Wildcats' defense with blast after blast, and Summerfield closed out the match with a sizzling cross-court spike to seal the district championship for the fifth consecutive year.

"I love it," said Jones. "The girls came to play and all the district championships were special, but this one is extra special because it will be my last."

Lake Placid will host Clearwater Central Catholic in Tuesday's regional quarterfinal at 7 p.m. in the Green Dragons gym.

Lake Placid, with all of its district success, is still seeking its first win in the regional competition.

"This is a special group of girls that I'm very proud of," said Jones. "It will be great to play at home and I'd like to get a regional win before I retire.

"This is my last shot at it and it would be great if we could pull out a win."

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

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