Thursday, May 24, 2012

LHS Girls Win, October 19, 1977

Staff Report
Daily Commercial 
October 5, 1977
 
The Leesburg High girl's volleyball team upped its season record to 4-3 with a win over Eustis Monday night. The Jackets defeated the Panthers 12-15, 16-14, and 15-4, with Sandra Rutig high with points on serve.
 
Eustis defeated Leesburg in two other matches this season.
 
This past week LHS dropped Groveland 15-1, 7-15, and 15-6. In the first game Vickie Jensen scored 11 points off her serve. Rutig scored eight points on serve in third game.
 
Lisa Batt set up Rutig and Tracy Rowland for numerous spikes.
 
The Jackets face Tavares in an away contest Friday at 4:30 p.m.
 

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Staff Report
Daily Commercial 
October 19, 1977

 
Leesburg Public Library
 

Jackets Edge Hurricanes, October 5, 1977



Staff Report
Daily Commercial 
October 5, 1977

The Leesburg High girls volleyball squad defeated Mount Dora Monday afternoon by scores of 15-11, 15-14, and 15-12. This was the second game ever played by the Yellow Jackets who lost the opener last week to Eustis.

Sandra Rutig made most winning points during service and turned in a fine performance in spiking return shots.

Other Leesburg players who stood out included Vickie Jensen, Diane Bair, Lisa Batt, Melanie Byrd, Tracy Rowland and Jaunda Adams. Adams saved the third game with serves. The Hurricanes had Leesburg down by nine points at the time.

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Staff Report
Daily Commercial 
October 5, 1977

 
Leesburg Public Library

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Lady Jackets Top East Ridge, September 11, 2002



By Gerald Lacey
Staff Writer
Carver Heights Quarterback Club
September 11, 2002

LEESBURG - The Lady Jackets Volleyball team picked up a win over Clermont East Ridge 15-11, 8-15 and 15-6. Leesburg hosts another Lake County rival Groveland South Lake today at 6 p.m.

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Mount Dora Breezes Past Leesburg Girls, September 1, 1999

 
 
September 1, 1999|By Joe Williams of The Sentinel Staff
 
LEESBURG - Mount Dora's Eddie Barks and Leesburg's Steve Benson both left the season-opening volleyball match Tuesday night knowing that their teams have to do a better job of serving to be successful.

Leesburg (0-1) struggled with its serves throughout the two-game match at Ray Hayes Gymnasium, but it was particularly bad in the the second game when the Yellow Jackets missed four serves in a row and five-out-of-six serves in a 15-0, 15-11 loss to the Hurricanes (1-0).

In the opening game, Leesburg only had opportunities to serve four times and knocked two of those serves out of play.

But Mount Dora wasn't immune to serving problems either.

``We just didn't play well in the second game,'' Barks said. ``We missed five or six serves. It was terrible.''

Leesburg possibly could have forced a third game in the best-of-three match if it had served a little better.

The Yellow Jackets were only trailing 10-5 in the second game when their serving problems hit.

``Like I asked the girls, Have you ever seen tennis?' '' Benson said. ``It was unforced errors that really hurt us. We had four missed serves in a row.''

Leah Clark, Leesburg's middle blocker, took control of the middle in the second game.

Before Leesburg went on its 0-for-4 run on serves, Clark's blocks earned a sideout and a point for the Yellow Jackets on two consecutive plays.

Her play in the middle forced Mount Dora to shift its offense to more of an attack from its outside hitters. Krissy McKane found success from the outside on sets from Samantha Barks, the coach's daughter, to finally put the second game away for the Hurricanes after Leesburg had climbed to within 6-5 earlier in the contest.

Mount Dora dominated the first game and its serving was much better.

Katie Richards, Marivel Rodrigues and Samantha Barks all had service aces in the game and Leesburg only won four sideouts. The Hurricanes only had onemissed serve in that game and McKane's spikes were particularly effective.

Coach Barks was impressed with the way Leesburg quickly turned around after the first game.

``In the first game, we ran the offense and got some hits in,'' Barks said. ``Maybe it did come too easily, because we didn't play nearly as well in the second game. But, you also have to give Leesburg some credit. They played much better.''

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Determined Leesburg Tops Tavares In 3 Games, September 27, 2000

Tuesday's Victory By The Yellow Jackets, Who Won The Last Two Games, Surpassed Their Total For The '99 Season.

September 27, 2000|By Josh Robbins of The Sentinel Staff
 
LEESBURG - Tuesday's volleyball match between Leesburg and Tavares left one team with its biggest win of the season, the other with perhaps its biggest disappointment so far.

Leesburg won the match 11-15, 15-12, 15-13.

With the victory, Leesburg improved its record to 3-8, giving the Yellow Jackets one more win than they posted during the entire 1999 season.

"I have faith in the girls," said Tracey Hanson, Leesburg's first-year coach. "I honestly believe that every night we play, we can win."

Ashley Sopotnick, the Yellow Jackets' co-captain, said the victory was the team's biggest win since she joined the varsity team at the start of the 1999 season.

Predictably, Tavares' players left Ray Hayes Memorial Gymnasium in a decidedly less upbeat mood. The Bulldogs (7-4), the defending Class 3A, District 7 champions, lost their second straight match.

"The effort's there," said Tavares Coach Donna Coates. "I'm not happy with their play at all."

Throughout most of the match's first game, Coates' Bulldogs appeared out of sync. Their passes veered far from the mark. Their sets drifted off-target.

But with Leesburg leading 10-5 in that game, Tavares co-captain Monica Baron seemed to get her teammates on track. Baron dinked the ball over Leesburg's front row for a side out.

On the Tavares bench, Coates exclaimed, "Thank you, Monica!"

With Chelsea Cook serving, the Bulldogs scored the game's next four points. Later on, Tavares won four consecutive points on Baron's serve. Baron ended the game with a kill.

But Leesburg responded during Game 2. Trailing 10-8, the Yellow Jackets won six straight points on Lindsey Carter's serve, with Carter contributing two aces.

The Yellow Jackets won the game when a Tavares spike attempt went long.

In Game 3, Leesburg rebounded from deficits of 6-2 and 12-8. A kill by Carter tied the score at 12, and a variety of Tavares mishits gave the Yellow Jackets match point. Melissa Newmons closed out the match with a kill of her own.

The teams meet again on Oct. 19.

In the interim, Tavares' Lauren Masters said the Bulldogs must improve their on-court communication.
"A lot of us aren't calling the ball," she said. "It's a lot of confusion going on on the court."

Leesburg's Sopotnick, on the other hand, reflected on a job well done.

She said: "There's always that little bit of a rivalry between Leesburg and Tavares, but as long as we play hard, any win is rewarding."

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

# 6 Lauren Roberts - Sr



2011 Lady Jackets Volleyball Varsity
# 6 Lauren Roberts - Sr
Leesburg (Leesburg, FL)

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# 5 Alex Perkins - So



2011 Lady Jackets Volleyball Varsity
# 5 Alex Perkins - So
Leesburg (Leesburg, FL)

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# 10 Mariah Bean - Sr



2011 Lady Jackets Volleyball Varsity
# 10 Mariah Bean - Sr
Leesburg (Leesburg, FL)

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# 8 Sara McKinney



2011 Lady Jackets Volleyball Varsity
# 8 Sara McKinney - So
Leesburg (Leesburg, FL)

   
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Morley Takes Dual Role As Leesburg Coach, May 28, 2004

Former Athletic Trainer Amy Morley Will Coach The Yellow Jackets In Softball And Volleyball Next Season.

 

May 28, 2004|By Joe Williams, Sentinel Staff Writer

LEESBURG -- As Leesburg High School's athletic trainer, and later as a science teacher at the school, Amy Morley had an opportunity to get to know the players on the Yellow Jackets' volleyball and softball teams fairly well.

Now, she will get to know them even better.

Morley has been named Leesburg's volleyball and softball coach, Athletic Director Georgette Wilson announced Thursday.

As a player, Morley was recruited for both sports out of high school. She was recruited to play volleyball for Loch Haven (Pa.) University, but instead played in the outfield at Slippery Rock University while attending the school from 1992 through `97.

"I am real excited about softball," said Morley, a science teacher. "That was one of my true loves out of high school. Unfortunately, I am coming into a softball program that had no junior varsity."

Morley is taking over two programs that are coming off good seasons.

Leesburg's softball team went 12-12 this year, including a victory in district play -- one of its most successful seasons in a decade.

The program, which has had several coaches in recent years, was coached by David Catron this spring. Catron is taking over the freshman football program this fall.

The softball program, however, had no junior varsity team and has lost five senior starters to graduation.

The volleyball program is in better shape after posting a 19-8 record in the fall and winning its first-ever district game before losing to state-bound East Ridge in the district semifinal. The volleyball junior varsity team posted an 18-1 record and won the district's junior varsity championship.

"We are very fortunate to have Amy on our coaching staff and with her outstanding background, we feel she will continue to keep our girls programs on a successful road,'' Wilson said in the release.

Morley said with volleyball being a fall sport that she will have the players involved in a weightlifting and conditioning program during the summer. She said the softball players would begin their off-season program in the fall.

Morley takes over the volleyball team from Paula Nesbitt.

"Actually, we have a lot of returnees,'' Morley said. "We lost only two seniors off the team and I know they all are on summer teams. Actually, I was officially named the volleyball coach a while back, so I have had more of an opportunity to have contact with those girls. With volleyball season being in the fall, I am a little more concerned about getting volleyball started.''

The Yellow Jackets' volleyball team graduated Courtney Stokes and Latrisha Howell, but has setter Sara Hoffman and hitters Alicia Hindman, Jessica Brady, Reecey Taft and Mallory Baisden among those returning.

"I have upped their schedule a lot,'' Morley said. "We will be going down to Orange County and playing West Orange, which usually has a good program, we will go up to Ocala Forest, and we will continue to play East Ridge, even though they are moving out of our district.''

However, Morley said among her first priorities will be increasing interest in the softball program.

"I have been around campus, talking to different girls, pushing the sport,'' she said. "It is a great situation to build this program. I am looking at building something that people can say. "Wow, Leesburg softball, they are a great team and a great program.'

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Jackets In College: Brady stays close to home, March 24, 2006


LAKE SPORTS

Lake-Sumter CC adds the county player of the year to its volleyball team.

March 24, 2006|By Joe Williams, Sentinel Staff Writer
 
LEESBURG -- For much of Jessica Brady's volleyball playing career, Jim Hoffman has been around. He has helped with the Leesburg High School volleyball team and has coached in the Lake County Juniors program.

Now, Hoffman, the head coach at Lake-Sumter Community College's volleyball team, again will be a part of Brady's volleyball playing life.

Brady, a 6-foot-1 Leesburg senior and the Sentinel's two-time Lake/Sumter player of the year, signed with the Lakers Thursday afternoon. Her signing concludes LSCC's recruiting for the year. Hoffman said the Lakers would have 14 players under scholarship and two more players on the team as walk-ons.

Brady was projected to go to a four-year school, but she opted to stay local, partly because of upcoming surgery in late May that is scheduled to correct problems with the arches in both her feet. She said she would be in a wheelchair for three months after the surgery.

"I'm feeling comfortable right now with the situation [at LSCC] and with the surgery," Brady said. "I was born without any arches and I don't have any cartilage in my ankles. They are going to go in and put screws in both my feet.

"I should be ready to play in September. I was going to have the surgery now, but my parents want to see me walk, not roll [in a wheelchair], at my [high-school] graduation."

Hoffman agrees with the decision to wait until late May for the surgery.

"I just signed the best player in Lake County," Hoffman said. "Not a lot of community college coaches can say that.

"I am not like a lot of other coaches. I told her to go to her prom, to walk graduation and then have it done. I don't want her to miss out on those things, but I also want her to be healthy."

In addition to being familiar with Hoffman, Brady will feel right at home with her team. Six players from Leesburg's volleyball program will be playing at LSCC next year. Brady will join former high-school teammates and 2005 Leesburg graduates: Alicia Hindman, Jennifer Simmons, Sara Hoffman (Jim Hoffman's daughter), Mallory Baisden and Callie Owenby-Gingras.

In addition, there are other players on the Lakers' team that Brady has played with in club volleyball.

LSCC, with a freshman-dominated team and with Hoffman carrying the title of interim coach, went 3-21 last season. But the Lakers won three of their final five matches, including victories over two teams that made it to the state tournament.

This year, LSCC will play a stronger schedule, going from a 24-match season to as many as 41 matches. The Lakers will travel to Alabama for a couple of tournaments and also will play against some four-year colleges.

"The first thing I said to Coach Hoffman is that I am here to win," Brady said.

That approach does not surprise Hoffman.

"The first word you want to put in front of her name is passion," he said when asked to describe Brady. "To me that is the most important thing. She also has great talent, great skills."

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