Local Sports

Blue Streaks throttle Dragons

Photos

Mark Pinson | Highlands Today
Published: September 20, 2012

SEBRING - After losing to Lake Placid in the preseason, the Sebring volleyball team earned a measure of revenge with a four-set win on Tuesday night.

The Class 6A Blue Streaks rolled past the Class 4A Green Dragons by scores of 25-12, 25-16, 23-25 and 25-18, to improve to 7-2 on the season.

"It was a win, but I'm not satisfied and I know the girls aren't satisfied with how we played," said Sebring volleyball coach Venessa Sinness. "The only reason we won is Lake Placid played worse and we serve-received really well."

The disappointing loss dropped the Green Dragons to 5-1 on the season.

"We had no effort at all," said Lake Placid coach Linette Wells. "Our intensity level was really low and our heart wasn't in it.

"We didn't communicate well, didn't serve well and didn't play as a team."

Sebring came out strong and jumped out to an early lead in the first set against a Lake Placid squad that was a bit out of sync.

The Blue Streaks continued to apply pressure with strong serving and the Green Dragons made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes in the first set loss.

"We didn't seem to care if the ball went in or not," Wells said. "We missed a lot of serves, which is very unusual for us."

The Blue Streaks kept rolling in the second set behind the strong serves of Lindsey Whittington to take a 9-5 lead.

Lake Placid bounced back as Breauna Corley had a pair of ace serves and two spikes to tie the match at 15.

Sebring answered with a run of its own as Bella Caraballo had three ace serves and the Blue Streaks took advantage of several Green Dragon miscues to grab the lead at 19-15.

The Blue Streaks closed out the set with excellent serving by Allie Mann and strong net play from Meghan Lollis to take a commanding 2-0 lead.

Sebring eased out to an 8-2 lead in the third set before Lake Placid roared back as Mary Grace Bates had several ace serves, and Jacalyn Baldwin and Samantha Phypers combined on a pair of blocks to give the Green Dragons a 14-12 lead.

Phypers drilled an ace serve for a 17-14 advantage and Sebring called a time out to try and regroup.

Lake Placid found some offensive rhythm, but Sebring's defense at the net proved tough to clear as Lollis had back-to-back blocks for a 21-20 lead.

Corley had an ace serve, and a block and a missed serve by Sebring gave the Dragons the win.

Lake Placid led 11-9 in the final set before Sebring rallied behind strong serving by Ansley Selander and Whittington and a pair of blocks by Caraballo to take a 23-15 lead.

The Green Dragons had an unforced error and a Sebring block at the net closed out the set and the match for the Blue Streaks.

"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss, but we had a very nonchalant attitude and didn't play with any intensity," Sinness said. "I don't think we hit 20 percent of our shots in play and that's something we have to work on."

Lake Placid begins district play at Frostproof tonight, while Sebring hosts Hardee in a non-district match at 7 tonight.

"We're going to work hard in practice and I'm looking for a much better effort against Hardee," Sinness said.