For the first time in 13 years, the county does not have a team in the state final four.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published November 9, 2003
EAST LAKE - To make some racket in the Class 5A bracket, Clearwater and East Lake had to get past Venice, ranked No. 1 in the state poll, and No. 3 Fort Myers. In addition to their poll rankings, the two teams had an advantage in experience and height.
The Tornadoes and Eagles, the only Pinellas teams left in the playoffs, had the added pressure of keeping a 13-year streak alive.
Since 1990, the county had sent at least one team to the state final four.
But the only place Clearwater and East Lake are going is home.
Despite playing tough against formidable competition, the Tornadoes and Eagles were eliminated in the semifinals and failed to meet in a rematch of last year's final.
Venice beat Clearwater 25-16, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23 in the first semifinal. Fort Myers won the other 25-15, 25-23, 17-25, 25-13 to prevent host East Lake from making it to the final four for the third straight season.
In the final, the Green Wave swept Venice in three games to advance to state for the first time since 1995.
"I knew from the start of the season that this region was going to be among the toughest in the state," East Lake coach Terry Small said. "It just shows how good the area is in volleyball."
Although he had scanned the bracket beforehand, Small was unable to scout Fort Myers (28-2) and had to rely on what he could remember from watching the Green Wave in the region tournament the past two years.
After the loss, Small realized what he already knew. Fort Myers had a lot of experience and was pretty darn good.
Still smarting after being knocked out of region play the past two seasons by Pinellas County teams, including the Eagles in 2001, the Green Wave took out their frustration by blocking shots and connecting on kills.
The front line of Lauren Stockman-Puder, Ashley Yance and Jessica Crawford silenced the home crowd by jumping out to a 14-8 to win the first game.
Small made the necessary adjustments on defense and it showed as East Lake (20-5) kept it close in the second and won the third. But the momentum shifted in the fourth as the Green Wave broke open a close game by going on a 12-3 run at the end.
"Fort Myers has a lot of tall girls and we weren't able to get them pinned in the back row until it was too late in the first game," Small said. "You lose four or five points in rally scoring and you almost kiss the game goodbye.
"It's hard to come back from that, but I thought our girls did well considering what we were up against."
Clearwater (22-7) had a similar problem against the Indians. Venice's tandem of Lisa Hough and Danielle Durham slammed the ball through the Tornadoes' outstretched hands to win the first game convincingly, 25-16.
The Tornadoes settled down and stayed with the Indians the rest of the way. The final three games were decided by three points or less. Clearwater had a chance to even the match but let a 23-20 lead slip away.
Despite the setback, the Tornadoes used a balanced attack to hold on to a late lead to win the third game and stayed within striking distance in the fourth.
"I could not be more proud of the way these girls played," Clearwater coach Lynn Hallmark said. "Venice is a great team and we'll take this experience and grow from it. We only had one senior and one junior on the floor, so we'll be back."
