North volleyball sweeps Island Coast 3-0
The way the North Fort Myers Red Knights were running their offense Monday night, it appeared they might blitz the host Island Coast Gators off the floor in three lopsided sets.
As play advanced in games two and three, the Gators fought back with more inspired play and it created some long, pivotal exchanges.
The Knights, who have been questionable in those situations at times this season, reestablished control and earned a 25-10, 25-15, 25-12 victory in high school volleyball action.
“We’re still young,” North coach Jeremy Ridgeo said of his team, which consists of one senior. “We’ll go 10 or 11 points where you can’t tell, but then five or six where we make young mistakes. We’ve been letting teams back in games when we could’ve taken their pulse away.”
Ridgeo referred to one example of a recent match when the Knights led Lemon Bay by two sets, before losing the last three.
In order to make sure the Gators didn’t mount a serious rally Monday, the Knights managed to refocus and set up their offensive attack.
The sophomore trio of setter Susie McKeever (25 assists), Miranda Ashby (14 kills) and 6-foot-1 Jessica Wagner (13 kills) were consistent forces, while junior Jessica Petrucci delivered strong serves with eight aces.
The youthful Knights (8-9) have won six of their last eight matches after a 2-7 start.
The Gators (2-12), who are in their first varsity season, recognize the daunting task of trying to win three games in a match against much more experienced teams.
Still, coach Cheryl Stauffer wants to see consistent effort and competitiveness. The Gators were overwhelmed by the Knights’ offensive execution in game one Monday, but then began to play sound defense, dive after balls and keep it in play for more scoring opportunities.
“They know what to do,” Stauffer said. “They just seem not to do it in the first game and then they find themselves and know that they can do what the other teams are doing.”
In game one, Petrucci started off with a long serving run that included four aces. It helped the Knights to a 9-0 lead. Sophomore Natalie Thoennes converted a shot to get the Gators on the board.
Dana Ruff and Kelsey Gates each recorded aces for the Gators, but as the opening game continued, they sent too many errant passes over the net and the Knights quickly transitioned to offense, with McKeever setting up teammates for spikes.
Wagner and Ashby had four and three kills, respectively, in the first game, while junior Paige Engh added a pair of blocks.
At the start of game two, the Gators scored the first three points and kept the pressure on, staying as close as 15-13.
Ridgeo picked up a yellow card for questioning a call midway through the second set, which forced him to sit on the bench. The Knights seemed to re-focus after that. They went on a 10-2 closing spurt to take a two-set advantage.
“(Island Coast) did a good job in the second game,” Ridgeo said, “by sending the ball back a little quicker and that made it tough to set up our offense.”
The Knights looked ready to jump on the Gators at the start of game three, with Wagner providing a dominant presence at the net.
They pushed it to 9-4, but the Gators rallied again. A pair of aces from Gates sparked a run that cut the deficit to 12-10.
The Knights took control down the stretch with Petrucci’s serving and Ashby’s power hitting serving as key elements.
The Knights are back in action Tuesday at Estero. The Gators travel to LaBelle.
Bishop Verot 3, Gulf Coast 2: After taking Gulf Coast apart in three games in an earlier meeting, the visiting Bishop Verot Vikings got all they could ask for in Monday’s trip to Collier County.
In the end, though, the Vikings (16-0) kept their perfect record intact with a five-set victory 25-10, 23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 23-21.
Setter Ciara Brown took over in key spots and distributed 51 assists.
Sarah Toggweiler (22 kills), Katie Mosher (19 digs) and Christa Brooks (five blocks) were instrumental to the victory.
“We made a lot of unforced errors,” Vikings coach Wynn DePasquale said, “but the seniors pulled us through.”