Streaks Slam Past Devils

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch the Sebring volleyball team off its feet.

A good night's rest after the Blue Streaks dismantled rival Avon Park for its third straight sweep to start the season, the entire Sebring squad took to the streets to help continue its early season run.

Literally.

The Streaks, along with coach Venessa Sinness, have made a commitment to conditioning this season, a fact that's especially apparent when Sebring hits the road twice a week for 6 a.m. team runs.

"It's the whole team, including myself, on Mondays and Wednesdays unless we have a late night on Tuesday," Sinness said after the Streaks bounced Avon Park 25-18, 25-15, 25-12 to sweep the Devils for the second time in a week. "We do the town loop: We start at football field, go down Lakeview, around the Circle, back down Commerce and past the baseball field."

Any calories burned or muscles toned during the runs are secondary, according to senior Molly Blackman, who finished the night with 10 blocks and four kills.

She said the runs are all about building camaraderie.

"It's not that big of a deal as long as the whole team is doing it together," Blackman said. "It's just one more thing we can all share together to build the team up."

Sebring's all-for-one concept was on full display early, as they survived an all-out first-set charge by Avon Park before taking six of the last seven points and a 25-18 win.

"They dug up everything in the first game," said Sebring senior Hannah Shoop, who finished with seven kills. "We knew we had to finish them off."

The Streaks kept their hitting up the rest of the match, setting up tips with powerful swings to keep the Devils off-balance. Still, said Avon Park coach Stephanie Devlin, the Red Devils showed much improvement from their three-set loss to Sebring in the finals of the Sebring Preseason Classic.

"I told them at the end of the game, 'Look you guys, there aren't going to be too many teams tougher than Sebring,' " Devlin said. "If we get out and play like that against most any opponent, we'll come out with a win.

"I was pretty disappointed during the preseason, because we didn't play like should have. But we got out there and hustled tonight, and I was really proud of them."

AP's Logan Palmer said the Devils' defense needs to play a bit more in its heels the next time around, but the team has improved by leaps and bounds since they started practicing just one week ago.

"Last game, we were all over the place, running into each other and not knowing when to block," she said. "But we're all getting to know the game better, and we all know where we're supposed to be."

Anna West and Carly Freeland each had four kills for Sebring, while West added four blocks and Brittney Augustine led the Streaks with 24 assists and three blocks. Sebring's serve-receive was also off the charts: The Streaks returned all but four serves, a number Sinness was ecstatic about.

"That's way above 90 percent, and that's what we're shooting for every night," she said. "They served very well at us, but I told the girls to just keep swinging. Once we established our hitting, that's when we took over with our tipping."

But stats aren't the only thing the Streaks were happy about following the match: The team was all smiles as they gathered on their rivals' home floor, and not because they'd just enjoyed their ninth straight set victory to open the season.

"The chemistry between all of us is unbelievable," Blackman said. "We work so well together because we love the sport and have fun with it.

"I love every second of it."

Even those pre-dawn runs.

VOLLEYBALL:

Sebring hosts Palmetto tonight, while Avon Park travels to Clewiston. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. See Saturday's Highlands Today for results.