PHCC gets some help in title capture

The Pasco-Hernando Community College volleyball team relied on Hillsborough CC to knock off St. Petersburg College last week for its 12th straight Suncoast Conference title.

"It's huge," said Sam Cibrone, who has coached PHCC to the past three championships. "Once you set the precedent, you've got to maintain it."

The Conquistadors (23-8, 8-2) achieved one of Cibrone's two preseason goals, coming up shy of an unbeaten conference record.

"I'm a little disappointed," he said. "But I guess I'm learning that with all the injuries you have, it's hard to keep perfection as a goal. I believe if we were healthy, we would have gone 10-0."

Middle hitter Erin Stoen (arthritis) and freshman standouts Alicia Willemet (ankle), a setter, and Natalie Crawford (back and shins), a middle hitter, missed league losses to St. Petersburg and Manatee CC.

Crawford has been out the longest, but Cibrone said her two-week layoff should end with today's opening round of the Lake Sumter Tournament.

The conference crown qualifies Pasco-Hernando for the state tourney with Manatee CC, the winner of Tuesday's tie-breaker against St. Petersburg, as the runner-up.

The Conquistadors have four games left until the Nov.7-9 tournament in Jacksonville.

"These are just games to fine-tune and get better," Cibrone said. PHCC won its final two league matches, Oct.10 against Polk CC and Oct.11 vs. South Florida CC.

Outside hitter Nicole Cattrysse, a sophomore, received most valuable player recognition in both matches after producing 18 kills, 8 blocks and 6 aces.

"She's stepping up right now," Cibrone said. "That's what we need. When we're hurt in the middle, we need someone on the outside to play big."

Cattrysse is second on the team with 45 blocks, third with 243 kills and fourth in hitting percentage at .256.

FLOREA RETURNS: All-American middle hitter Cristiana Florea returns to the Saint Leo lineup from a knee injury today for the South Region Challenge. The Lions play Lander at 5 p.m.

Saint Leo (11-10, 2-3) took one of three matches last week with Florea out, beating Nova Southeastern 30-26, 32-30, 30-20. Lottie Phillip (10 kills, .316 hitting percentage), Ramona Criste (35 assists, five digs), Robbie Beach (12 kills, 10 digs), Rachael Yockey (9 kills, 4 aces, 5 digs) and former Hudson standout Alison Baker (10 kills, .500 hitting percentage) played a part in the victory.

TWO OF THREE: The Saint Leo men's soccer team went 2-1 last week, sandwiching a 3-1 loss to Central Arkansas around two victories -- 6-1 over Eckerd and 5-1 against Christian Brothers.

Paul Reynolds led Saint Leo (7-4-1, 2-1) with three goals and nine points in the games. Genecarlo Secco had three goals and two assists. Tony Rosso, who returned after missing three games with a leg injury, had a goal and an assist.

The sophomore forward from East Lake leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 16 points.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright