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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 10, 2002
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Mitchell hosted the program's first tournament over the weekend and made history by sweeping four matches to win the New Port Richey Volleyfest.
"This is new territory for us," said Mitchell coach Joe Dixon, whose team takes a 5-0 record to Tarpon Springs tonight. "I'm very happy with the team, and the girls have been working hard and making good adjustments during matches."
Mitchell junior Katelen Dixon, the coach's daughter, was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by setter Nicole Patton.
The Mustangs, who fought off six match points to beat Hudson in their season opener, trailed Sickles 14-10 in the third game of the championship before rebounding for an 18-16 victory.
"That's been our signature," coach Dixon said. "All but maybe two of our matches went to three games last year. The difference was, when we got down, we didn't come back."
It'll be impressive if the unbeaten record survives the week. In addition to playing Tarpon Springs, which beat River Ridge last week, Mitchell will play in a 16-team invitational at Keswick Christian with games scheduled against Trinity Prep, Clearwater Central Catholic and Northside Christian.
MORE VOLLEYFEST: Land O'Lakes finished third out of seven teams, winning two of three matches to improve to 3-3 under first-year coach Stephanie Voorhees.
"The girls played excellent volleyball, really bringing it all together," said Voorhees, who beat alma mater Ridgewood on Saturday.
The Gators also beat Central but lost to runner-up Sickles.
Middle hitter Alison Foster was named to the all-tournament team, and Voorhees was pleased with reserves Brittany Hipps and Jessica Gagnon, who stepped into bigger roles.
After hosting Springstead on Monday night, Land O'Lakes has its next four matches at home, including clashes with Gulf today and Tarpon Springs on Thursday.
In a regular head-to-head match last week, Ridgewood beat Land O'Lakes in three games, giving coach Diane Breinig a win against her alma mater. The Rams finished fifth in the Volleyfest, losing to Sickles and Land O'Lakes but beating Lakeland and Tarpon Springs.
"It wasn't where we expected to be and we had a couple of letdowns in certain areas," said Breinig. "But our serving has still been great and we're trying to get the best rotation figured out."
Middle hitter Jamie Surmin was named to the all-tournament team as the Rams (4-2) made due with limited play from outside hitter Heather Birchmeier, recovering from complications from tonsillectomy.
WILDCATS TAKE SILVER: Wesley Chapel (4-1) won the consolation bracket at a tournament at Hillsborough Community College last weekend, beating Gulf, Boca Ciega and Bloomingdale after losing to Northeast.
"It was pretty much back and forth, and the girls played well," coach Julie Marks said of the three-game loss to Northeast.
Hitter Lauren Valdez led the Wildcats with 12 kills during the tournament, but Marks was most pleased by her team's improved serving. After 19 service errors in two preseason matches, Wesley Chapel missed just three serves in four matches at HCC.
Tonight, the Wildcats travel to River Ridge, where Marks said her team will have its hands full against a westside power.
"It's going to be a tough one," she said. "If we go out with our A-game, it's going to be close, but if we don't, we might as well not show up."
FRUSTRATING START: Gulf finished sixth out of nine teams in the HCC field, beating Brandon but dropping to 1-5 after the weekend.
"It's going to take some time because we're young, but we definitely have things to work on," said coach Shari Schau, whose team was swept by Tarpon Springs and River Ridge last week. "What's frustrating is that the problems are things we've been working on in practice."
Schau has switched two of her top hitters, moving sophomore Amy O'Brien from middle to outside to trade places with Randi Vilone.
One bright spot for the Buccaneers has been serving. Sophomore Tiffany Stanjeski is 25-for-27 (a 93 percent average), bested only by junior Sherri Layton, who's missed twice in 48 attempts for a 96 percent mark.
PIRATES OFF AND RUNNING: Pasco won its first two matches under first-year coach Ramiro Tejada, beating Springstead and Zephyrhills last week.
The Pirates, who host Bartow in a district match tonight, finished both opponents in two games, getting strong play from juniors Erica Flicker and Amy Herndon.