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."
Resources
Josh Robbins
The Sentinel Staff
Orlando Sentinel
September 27, 2000
Leesburg Public Library
100 East Main Street
Leesburg, Florida 34748
Article provided by:
Gerald Lacey
Staff Writer
Carver Heights Quarterback Club
1986 Varsity Jackets Football Lettermen #82
Class of 1988 Leesburg High School
leesburgyellowjacketsfootball@yahoo.com
www.leesburgyellowjacketsfootball.com
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