Sports

East Lake puts on show in win over Clearwater

By BRANDON WRIGHT
Published September 20, 2007

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EAST LAKE - The crowd was boisterous, the gym was packed and each point seemed like the match depended on it.

Exactly what Natalie Mahey was expecting.

Sara Rex and Mahey combined for 32 kills as the host Eagles avenged their only loss of the season, defeating Clearwater 25-20, 23-25, 29-27, 29-27 Wednesday night.

"This is indescribable," said Mahey, who transferred from CCC this year. "This is why I came here, to play in games like that."

East Lake's student section - known as the "Blue Crue" - along with a vocal Clearwater crowd, provided the perfect atmosphere for the district showdown. Three games were decided by two points and the gym was so loud, the public address announcer was barely audible.

"Electrifying," East Lake coach Terry Small said. "This place was absolutely crazy."

Mahey said she had been to a few matches like this involving perennial area powerhouses East Lake/Palm Harbor U./Clearwater before, but playing in one?

"Unbelievably intense," the junior outside hitter said.

Tied at a game apiece, Mahey gave the Eagles a 28-27 lead on one of her 13 kills. Clearwater then followed with an unforced error for a Game 3 East Lake win.

"We seemed to win every big point all night," Mahey said. "It seems like we keep getting better each match."

East Lake 7-1 held a 21-17 lead in Game 4 before the Tornadoes (11-3) came storming back. Megan Aguirre's back-to-back kills tied it at 21 before the Tornadoes rattled off their fifth point in a row to take a 22-21 lead. Facing game point, Mahey split a pair of blockers to tie it at 25. Then with the Tornadoes up against match point, Channing Salava (13 kills, 18 digs) also fired one through the blockers to tie it at 26.

But following a Kaitlin Posnak kill to tie it at 27, East Lake finally strung together back-to-back points. Rex then hammered home a kill before stonewalling Salava at the net for her fifth block of the night as the student body poured onto the court.

"That was the best block Sara's ever had at the most critical of times," Small said. "That's what you want to see, two great players battling it out at the net and laying it all out there until the end."

Andria Tagarelli had 27 digs for the Eagles while Karly Gilchrist added a match-high 45 assists. Clearwater's JB Davis and Aguirre (17 digs) finished with 11 kills each. Teammate Kristi Posnak finished with a match-high seven blocks and Katie Betourne chipped in with 14 digs.

"The first time we played them they really took us out of our system," Small said. "Tonight both teams played at such a high level. Much better than the first time we met."

Brandon Wright can be reached at bwright@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2216.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 00:54:46]