Pinellas: Volleyball notebook

By Brandon Wright
Published September 21, 2007

East Lake workouts

The Eagles incorporated new training techniques into their workouts this summer and the results are paying off on the court.

Coach Terry Small and wife Barb had always played on the beach with members of the team, but this year they started going 2-on-2 instead of 5-on-5. This forced the players to do more on the court - digging, passing, hitting, blocking - with just one partner.

"It's the best thing we've ever done here," Terry Small said. "It's helped them all become more complete volleyball players."

The workouts were so successful, the team meets every Saturday at 9 a.m. on Clearwater Beach.Is it hard to get the girls up and out of the house that early on one of the two days during the week they get to sleep in?

"They're waiting for us when we get there," Small said.

The Eagles are 7-1 with wins against rivals Palm Harbor U. and Clearwater under their belts.

Record-setting win

Indian Rocks Christian rolled to its 14th straight win Thursday, setting a school record for consecutive victories. IRC won 13 in a row last season before falling to PHU in the finals of the Keswick Invitational. What made the record even sweeter was it came against Tampa Prep, a team IRC had never beaten before last year.

Out of big sister's shadow

When people think of the name DiSalvatore and Countryside, thought's of GiOnna's sweet lefty swing in softball come to mind. The Times' Player of the Year last season, GiOnna signed to play at softball powerhouse UCLA. But little sister Davi is quickly making a name for herself on the court.

"GiOnna and Davi always had that big sister/little sister thing going on," coach Kaylyn Bayly said. "They'd fuss at each other and things like that all the time."

But Tuesday was a different story. GiOnna, who also played volleyball, watched her sister in action before departing for Los Angeles on Wednesday. After the match, Bayly said the two realized they were parting ways for a while.

"It got pretty emotional," Bayly said. "I think it finally hit Davi that she was leaving."

Davi gave her sister plenty to cheer about, playing one of her best matches of the season en route to 13 kills. Now with big sis gone, it's time for Davi to make her own mark.

"She is so much further along, in terms of maturity, than I thought she would be at this point," Bayly said. "She has really stepped it up, both on the court and as a leader."

Lakewood close calls

You have to feel for the Spartans. Lakewood took East Lake and Palm Harbor U. - arguably the two best teams in the county - to five games within a week's time. Unfortunately for the Spartans, both ended in a loss.

Still, Lakewood's program under second-year coach Sean O'Flannery has turned some heads.

"I'll tell you what," PHU coach Tara Kuk said. "They have some serious athletes down there."

The Blue Crue

A special shout out goes to the students at East Lake who make up this spirited group. Think Duke's Cameron Crazies, just on a smaller scale.

The Blue Crue, a campus sponsored club, has cleverly choreographed chants, never stop making noise and is a factor when the opponents have to serve at their end. Combine that with music played while opponents warm up -Wednesday night it was sickeningly somber My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion - and East Lake surely enjoys the best home court advantage in the county.

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

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 23:10:27]