Pirates D overpowers in opener

By DAWN REISS
Published August 24, 2005

LECANTO - Brandy Worlton and Ashley Clark teamed up to help contain Seven Rivers Christian in a 25-17, 27-25, 25-21 victory Tuesday.

Crystal River led 15-13 in Game 1 before going on a 10-4 run, which was helped by poor blocking from the Warriors.

Worlton posted five of her 12 kills in the first game and joined forces time after time with Clark, who ended the night with 20 assists.

"Brandy led the team in blocks (five), but it seemed like everybody on the team touched the ball in some form or fashion in blocking," coach Briget Boshell said.

In Game 2, Seven Rivers Christian used strong defensive play, including court-squeaking digs, to combat Crystal River's hard hitting and capitalize on the Pirates' service errors, tying the score 13 times.

"We communicated well, but we were very scared because we let them back in the game a couple of times," Boshell said.

Trailing 24-22, Rachael Capra's strong serving bolstered the Warriors to a 25-24 lead. Serving for the win, Capra punched the ball out of bounds as the Pirates scored two more for their second win in the best three-out-of-five match.

"We missed one serve," Seven Rivers Christian coach Tim Bowman said. "If we could have won that second game, it would have changed the whole night."

Crystal River took a quick 14-3 lead against a deflated Seven Rivers that turned into a 20-9 edge in Game 3. But the Pirates became complacent as the Warriors gained momentum, helped by Crystal River miscues and misplaced shots. A Chelsea Ebert ace jump-started the Warriors to an 11-3 rally. But out-of-bound hits, coupled with poor passing, hindered the Warriors. A final Megan Hirsch kill sealed the Warriors' fate.

"It's always good to win the first game," Boshell said. "If you don't win the first game, you can't win them all."

LECANTO - Strong serving gave Belleview a 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 victory over Lecanto. Belleview, which finished 2-18 last year, had seven straight service points from Brianna Coonfield and six straight serves from Deidra Enochs in the final game.

Lecanto made 12 hitting errors in Game 3, showing its inexperience in the opener. The Panthers have a sophomore-heavy lineup.

"We are trying to work together right now," Lecanto senior Crystal Earnest said. "We did a lot right. We were moving and getting our sets."

Belleview made nine hitting errors in the final game. Lecanto led 8-5 after a service point by Michi Arguedas. A Lecanto hitting error returned the serve to Belleview. Coonfield then hit seven straight serves and the Rattlers took a 13-6 lead.

Enochs had nine service points for the night. Rachel Rudolf had three kills and seven service points.

Belleview coach Gary Greer was happy with his team's opening act.

"This is my first year as a coach here and it's been all the girls," Greer said. "They work real hard at turning around things.

"We are half and half (as far as experience). Our serves have been great. We work hard on serves in practice. They have been losing for three years in a row and we are hoping to go in the right direction."

- LARRY BUGG, Times correspondent

[Last modified August 24, 2005, 01:16:13]