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Pirates run out of gas in title game

BROOKSVILLE -- The Pirates just couldn't put it away.

Defending champion Crystal River lost its rematch with Williston 12-15, 15-10, 17-15 in Wednesday's final. After battling back from an 11-3 deficit in the deciding game, the Pirates had three match points before allowing the Red Devils to pull away.

"I just think that third game we killed ourselves," Crystal River coach Trudee Lightbody said. "We ended up coming back, which was great, and it could have gone either way."

The Pirates (14-8) tied it at 13-13 on an ace by junior Jennifer MacRae, whose hitting and blocking helped key the comeback. Another ace by Shana Lockley gave the Pirates a 14-13 lead, and the junior served another tough ball, but Crystal River couldn't capitalize. The Pirates then committed hitting errors on their next two match points.

Senior Lisandra Vazquez called the loss disappointing.

"We fought back from basically nothing," said Vazquez, who finished with eight digs and six kills. "It was hard because we won last year, we had beat them last year, and we had our hopes up. In the second game, I guess we got a little too confident."

There were six ties in the second game, and the Pirates knotted it at 10-10 on back-to-back aces by Lockley before falling. Crystal River had a 12-6 lead in Game 1 before Williston rallied to within a point at 13-12. Lockley closed the game out with two kills.

MacRae had eight kills and 10 blocks, including six stuffs. Lockley added four kills and three aces.

Williston (15-5) got 20 kills from middle hitter Dominique Coleman and 22 assists from setter Ebony Davis.

Williston coach Shereka Jackson's team also came from behind in both games Tuesday.

"I told them to stay up, no matter what," Jackson said of her team. "Last night, we were down the same and I told them to keep their heads in the game and they did."

Lightbody said Crystal River did not move to the ball and did a poor job of covering certain spots on the court.

"You've got to expect everything to come over. It's not going to look the same, it's not going to look to your normal pass and your set and your hit," she said.

Instead of hosting their next match by virtue of a district win like last year, the runner-up Pirates have a long bus ride ahead of them for Tuesday's region semifinal.

Crystal River plays the winner of tonight's District 5 championship between top-seeded St. Augustine Menendez and third-seeded St. Augustine Nease. Menedez has already defeated Nease twice.

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