Red Devils split golf matches

The Avon Park girls golf team opened the season by splitting a tri-match on Tuesday at Torrey Oaks golf course.

Frostproof finished first in the tri-match with a four-person score of 202 for nine holes, while Avon Park shot a 211 and Hardee came in third with a 218.

The Red Devils were led by Angela Bateman's 48, which included a hole-in-one on the 125-yard third hole, Sarah Hunnicutt carded a 49, Lindsey Moffat had a 54 and Katelynn Stoll rounded out the team scoring with a 60.

"It was very windy and Torrey Oaks is a very narrow course," said Avon Park girls golf coach Suzie Gentry. "It was wet from all of the recent rain and the course played long.

"We're so excited for Angela because that was her first hole-in-one."

GIRLS GOLF: Blue Streaks win opening matches

LAKELAND - The Sebring girls golf team opened the season with a pair of wins over All Saints Academy and McKeel Academy at Wedgewood golf course on Tuesday.

Sebring shot a 202 for nine holes, while All Saints had a 237 and McKeel Academy came in with a 265.

Leading the way for the Blue Streaks was Savanna Fisher, who shot a personal-best 39, while Lindsey Lovett had a 42, Sarah Liles carded a 49 and freshman Bailee Sanders rounded out the team scoring with a 72.

"We're excited about starting the season with a pair of wins," said first-year Sebring girls golf coach Lisa Lovett. "The course wasn't that long, but it had nasty bunkers and we have plenty of room for improvement and we're very happy with Savanna's score."

VOLLEYBALL: Blue Devils nip Streaks

WINTER HAVEN - The Sebring volleyball team lost a tough five-set match to Winter Haven on Tuesday night.

The Blue Streaks played well against a talented Blue Devils squad before losing their Class 5A-District 5 match by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 14-25, 25-22, 14-16.

"It was tough match and it was unfortunate that we lost," said Sebring volleyball coach Venessa Sinness. "It was a barnburner and the match went back and forth with both teams playing well.

"It was two great teams playing well and we were ahead in the last game and it hurts that we weren't able to finish them off."

VOLLEYBALL: Red Devils sweep Bulldogs

FROSTPROOF - The Avon Park girls volleyball team made their trip to Polk County worthwhile by sweeping Frostproof by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-14 on Tuesday.

The opening-season Class 3A-District 9 win has the Red Devils record at 1-0 overall and 1-0 in district play.

"We worked hard in practice on the footwork of our setters and we did a much better job of setting the ball at the net where our hitters could hit it hard," said Avon Park volleyball coach Stephanie Devlin. "Our Libero, Jamie Wirries, was very active and did a great job of passing the ball to set up our offense."

Senior middle hitter Tia Nobles led the way with 12 kills and Ashley Chacon added 11 kills and Teresa Devlin contributed 11 aces in the Avon Park rout.

"We were on the offensive most of the night and that was a nice change after seeing us on the defensive side in our preseason games," Coach Devlin said. "We did a much better job of executing our offense and this win was good for our confidence."

Avon Park hosts Lake Placid in a key Class 3A-District 9 match at 7 tonight in the Red Devils gym.

"We played Lake Placid in the Preseason Classic last week and we know they have a solid team," Devlin said. "We're going to have to come out focused and ready to play if we want to come away with a win."