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Seven Rivers Christian beats the Bears for the second time this season.
By KRISTEN LEIGH PORTER
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 1, 2002
LECANTO -- Monday's meeting proved to be another epic battle between Seven Rivers Christian and Central. And the result was familiar.
Lone senior Danielle Albury posted a match-high 16 kills, seven aces and two stuff blocks as the Warriors came away with their second victory over the Bears this season, 15-7, 9-15, 15-13.
Warriors coach Scott Lyons -- whose team won the first meeting 11-15, 15-13, 18-16 on Sept. 10 -- said facing a tough Class 4A team like Central is a real test for his Class A squad. The 12-1 Warriors can go undefeated in District 7 play with a win against Ocoee Central Florida Christian tonight.
"We want to play quality teams like Central," Lyons said. "CFC has one good hitter, while this team presents 4-5 hitters and gets us ready for the postseason."
For Central, Thalia Tatham had six kills, Chivone Weyde five, Heather Edwards four and Sharesa Scott three. Setter Tamara Tatham dished out 20 assists. The loss dropped Central to 8-5, 4-0 in District 6.
Bears coach Jim Jensen complimented Albury's performance.
"The first match, we took her out of the match and should have won it," Jensen said. "We tried to neutralize her and we did that at our place, but tonight we didn't do a very good job of trying to stop her."
Albury started out strong with three kills and four aces in the first game. Central led 4-0 early before Seven Rivers came back to make it 6-6. The Warriors outscored the Bears 9-1 the rest of the way and Alice Zeiss smashed her fourth kill on game point.
In the second game, Seven Rivers spotted Central a 6-0 lead before cutting the deficit in half. It was 6-3 on a kill by Albury, who rotated into the back row and served up three aces to tie it. Weyde came right back with an ace of her own after Albury's service error and the Bears pulled away.
"They beat us in the second game because of our four service errors," Lyons said.
Seven Rivers held a comfortable 10-5 lead in the third game when Central went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. It was nip and tuck the rest of the way, and a hard shot by Thalia Tatham went off the Warriors' block and out of bounds to give the Bears a 13-11 advantage.
But an Albury kill and a Zeiss ace later evened the score. A Central hitting error made it match point, and the teams traded sideouts before Danielle Toms ended it on an ace.
Toms, a sophomore, had four aces and Zeiss finished with four kills and two aces. Lyons said the substitution of Toms for seventh-grader Rachel Capra in the back row was key in the win.
Jensen said the Bears beat themselves in the first match, making 19 service errors, but this time the Warriors earned it. Central missed 12 serves, but also rang up nine aces, including four from Edwards.
"I have a lot of respect for their program," Jensen said of Seven Rivers. "They're going to be a force in 1A."