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Wesley Chapel makes history with 3A-6 title

By KEITH NIEBUHR

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 27, 2000

BUSHNELL -- The first district title in Wesley Chapel history was as swift as it was sweet.

The Wildcats disposed of Crystal River 15-0, 15-9 in 33 minutes to earn the Class 3A, District 6 title. Earlier in the day, the second-year program defeated Citrus 15-10, 15-7.

"This is awesome," Wesley Chapel coach Ann Wagner said. "Coming into the season, I knew we had a good team. But we were a young team, and I didn't know how far we'd go."

Wesley Chapel (14-14) plays host to Dixie County Tuesday in the first round of the 3A state playoffs. Crystal River, which beat top-seeded South Sumter in an earlier semifinal, plays at Keystone Heights. With Melissa Reed serving, the Wildcats served, blocked, passed and spiked to near perfection in the seven-minute opening game. Reed served every point while Jamie Freund had five kills to lead the way.

"We really wanted this," Wagner said. "Staying focused was the key."

Crystal River (12-13) fell behind 4-0 in the second game but rallied to within 10-9. Trailing by a point, a Pirate kill attempt went long, and they didn't recover. Freund had four kills in the game, which ended with a Mollie Shuff ace.

"We were just so flat," Crystal River coach Trudee Foltz said. "We tried to come back, but we didn't have enough left."

Crystal River might have been drained from its hard-fought 15-9, 15-12 upset of South Sumter, a match that ended an hour before the final began. In that match, the Pirates stunned the Raiders, a team that swept a pair of regular-season matches. "They gave it their all that first match," Foltz said. "I'm proud of that. That's the best we've played all year."

For awhile, it looked as if Wesley Chapel might not reach the final.

Against Citrus (7-15), the second-seeded Wildcats fell behind 10-5 in the opening game before running off 10 consecutive points. They finished the second game on an eight-point run.

"Wesley Chapel was tough on defense," Citrus coach Pam Woznicki said. "They covered the floor like a blanket. We were not able to put the ball on the floor. We sprayed a lot of passes."

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Gary Shelton