Preps

Pinellas roundup

By BRANDON WRIGHT, Times Staff Writer
Published October 4, 2007

CLEARWATER — The match couldn’t have started much better for Lakewood. Clearwater players dove at ace after ace, the Spartans were hitting their spots through the Tornadoes’ defense and it looked like it would be Lakewood’s night.

But Game 1’s finish wasn’t nearly as kind to the Spartans.

Clearwater erased an 11-point Game 1 lead and pulled out a 26-24, 25-16, 20-25, 25-17 win Wednesday against the visiting Spartans in a possible preview of this month’s PCAC championship.

“The first game was scary,” Clearwater coach Tracy Sedely said.

The Spartans (13-5) used excellent serving and an 8-0 mid-game run to build a 22-11 lead in the opener. Lakewood got 10 of its 20 aces  in the first game.

“Clearwater looked a little off in that first game and we were just hitting our spots with the serve,” Lakewood coach Sean O’Flannery said.

But Clearwater (17-3) started a  late-game comeback, ripping off a 15-2 run to close out the match. The Tornadoes fended off seven game points during that stretch and took the lead at 25-24, their first lead since 1-0.

“We were on our heels and we let (Clearwater) get to us a little,” Lakewood’s Taylor Whaley said. “We just didn’t execute.”

Trailing 2-0, Lakewood took Game 3 and was tied at 16 in Game 4 before the Tornadoes went on a 9-1 run to seal it.

“I think we got caught doing a little scoreboard-watching,” O’Flannery said.

Clearwater’s Channing Salava had 13 aces and five kills while teammate Arielle Myers finished with a team-high six kills. Lakewood’s Emily Bingham had a match-high 11 kills, Evan Ligon finished with seven aces and Michelle Scannell recorded 11 digs.

Tarpon Springs d. Boca Ciega 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-11
The Spongers improved to 3-9 behind eight aces apiece from freshman Karli Collins and Kelsey Albina. Jordan Lawlor chipped in with seven kills for Tarpon Springs, which plays Dunedin tonight at 7.

St. Petersburg d. Dixie Hollins 25-10, 25-14, 25-9
Marissa Hamilton led the Green Devils with 15 kills and Courtney Howard contributed a seven aces as St. Petersburg ran its record to 6-9. Liz Klienfeld (25 assists) and Nicole Graffouliere (seven kills) also had strong games for St. Petersburg.

The Green Devils travel to district rival Mitchell tonight at 7, the second meeting between the teams. Mitchell won in four the first time the teams played.

[Last modified October 4, 2007, 01:18:00]