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Sharks keep focus long enough to win

Riverview overcomes inconsistent play in a two-game victory over Bloomingdale.

By TERRY JONES
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 9, 2002

VALRICO -- Riverview junior setter Evette Archer kept pressuring her teammates to play together.

It worked. The Sharks (3-6) put away Bloomingdale 15-6, 15-12 on Tuesday night.

The Bulls (6-12) stayed close to the Sharks early in the first game, but bad shots and missed passes soon put them in a hole. In the second set, Bloomingdale challenged Riverview and came close to sending the match to a third game.

"I told our girls Bloomingdale would come back and start punching and I was right," Riverview coach Mike Flynn said. "No one is ever safe playing a (Bonnie) Hess-coached team."

Bloomingdale found itself in a 3-0 hole early in the second game before coming alive. Janette Espinosa stepped up to the service line and put six straight points on the board for the Bulls, giving them a 6-3 lead.

The serve changed three times before Riverview took an 8-6 lead. Archer and fellow setter Nhien Nguyen struggled to overcome the Sharks' inconsistent play.

After 10 service changes and numerous hard-fought points, the score was tied at 10. But the Bulls returned to their errant ways, missing passes and making bad ones, allowing the Sharks to close out the match.

"Our setters Evette Archer and Nhien Nguyen really called a good game on the court for us tonight," Flynn said.

Thais Eslick led Riverview with six kills. Archer added two aces four assists. Nguyen also had four assists.

"We were right on tonight," Archer said. "We missed a few in the second game, but for most of the match we picked up most of the balls."

Espinosa led Bloomingdale, serving for eight points and recording a pair of kills.

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