CLEARWATER - Whether it is sideout or rally scoring, best of three games or best of five, matches between Countryside and East Lake always seem to take a while.
Tuesday was no exception.
Down two games to one, the Eagles stormed back to beat the host Cougars 23-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11 in a Pinellas County Athletic Conference and Class 5A, District 9 match that lasted almost two hours.
Since 1999, the teams have gone to a decisive game in nine of their past 11 meetings.
"It was just another typical match in this rivalry," East Lake coach Terry Small said. "It's never easy."
Holding a 16-8 lead in Game 4, Countryside was in position to break that trend and make quick work of the Eagles.
But East Lake (6-1) went on a 9-1 run to tie at 17. From there, the game went back and forth until the Eagles scored the final four points.
The momentum continued in the decisive game as the Eagles scored the first six points and held off a late rally.
East Lake's Shardae Thorne led all players with 17 kills and 24 digs. Other leaders for the Eagles were Kayla Radies with four blocks and Chelsea Lazar with 11 kills and 20 digs.
"We have a young team that was making a lot of errors early on," said Small, who graduated five starters from last year's state runner-up team. "I wondered how they would respond being down by that much. To come back like that was a great experience and something we can build in other big matches."
Countryside, meanwhile, lost its second match at home after building a big lead.
CANTERBURY ROLLS: In a match that could ultimately decide the No.1 seed in Class A, District 7, Canterbury beat visiting Oldsmar Christian 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 25-14.
Both teams entered undefeated in district play.
"You can tell it was a big match, which was nice because we don't get that too often," Canterbury coach Dave Smith said. "The match was probably closer than the score indicated."
Junior middle hitter Ashley Pollard was the focal point of the Crusaders offense; she finished with 28 kills.
"We gave (Ashley) the ball wherever she was on the court," Smith said. "She probably had as many kills from the back row as she did the front row."
