Sports

Tornadoes in prime position

By BRANDON WRIGHT
Published September 28, 2005

---

CLEARWATER - Clearwater avenged its only loss of the season, and the Tornadoes solidified their spot atop the Class 5A, District 9 standings with a 28-26, 25-15, 25-17 sweep of visiting Palm Harbor University at Jack S. Wilson Gym.

The Tornadoes (12-1) remained perfect in the district (5-0) and can wrap up the title with a win tonight against Tarpon Springs.

"We knew a win would put us in first place so it was important for the girls to come out and prove themselves," Clearwater coach Tracey Sedely said. "We've been working on improving our passing and defense and I think that showed."

Clearwater also got some redemption against PHU, which beat the Tornadoes this season at the Keswick Invitational.

"We knew we had the ability and the talent and we didn't show that against (PHU) the first time when we lost," Sedely said.

Kelsey Salava did it all and had what Sedely described as "her best match of the season." Salava finished with a match-high 11 kills, 15 assists, five blocks and a pair of aces.

"Kelsey was awesome and she really brought some pizzazz to the court," Sedely said. "She was on in all aspects of her game and really peaked tonight and showed everyone what her potential is."

Salava said the difference between Tuesday's match and the Tornadoes' earlier loss to PHU was a matter of tweaking "the little things."

"The loss to (PHU) motivated us," Salava said. "We've spent the last couple of weeks working on the small things and making sure we get them right."

The Hurricanes struggled with the strongest part of their game - serving and defense. PHU finished with just three aces and had several communication breakdowns on defense that led to Clearwater points.

"We had a lot of silly mistakes; balls dropping between girls and not being aggressive," PHU coach Tara Burton said.

The loss was PHU's second in a row following a 15-0 start. The Hurricanes were swept last week by East Lake, but Burton said playing tough teams in back-to-back matches will benefit PHU down the road.

"That's what we'll be dealing with when we get to districts," she said.

IRC 3, KESWICK 0: The Golden Eagles improved to 14-5 with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-17 win against district rival Keswick Christian. Kenzie Reynolds led Indian Rocks Christian with eight kills, and Liz Zeitler finished with seven kills and 14 digs. IRC's Tabitha Henley had 22 assists.

LARGO 3, SEMINOLE 0: The Packers' Tiffany Long had nine kills as Largo won 25-22, 25-19, 22-14. Kristina Reeves also had nine kills for Largo and finished with a team-high six blocks. EAST LAKE 3, DUNEDIN 0: Kayla Radics led the Eagles with 12 kills as East Lake breezed by the Falcons 25-5, 25-7, 25-10. East Lake's Kaitlyn Molina had 26 assists and 10 digs while Alex Nobel recorded 10 aces. DIXIE HOLLINS 3, GIBBS 2: The Rebels rebounded from losses in the first two games to beat the Gladiators 14-25, 11-25, 25-17, 25-23, 15-10. The Rebels' Grace Weaver had a team-high 10 kills to go with six digs and four aces. Sarah Tanfield led Dixie Hollins with nine digs.

[Last modified September 28, 2005, 12:50:09]

[an error occurred while processing this directive]