Prep Report: Seahawks edge Tritons
There were constant shifts of momentum during Tuesday’s high school volleyball match between the Cape Coral Seahawks and Mariner Tritons, though it was difficult to tell which team had more when Cape senior Shannon McBride stepped to the line to serve in the decisive fifth game with the score knotted, 13-13.
McBride said her focus solely was on making sure she didn’t serve the ball into the net.
“I wasn’t thinking anything except put the ball over,” McBride said.
She delivered with consecutive points, including a finishing service ace, lifting the Seahawks to a thrilling five-set victory – 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 15-13.
It set off a wild celebration for the Seahawks (1-12), who snapped their season-long winless drought.
“It feels good to get a win after all the hard work we’ve been putting in,” junior Cassie Maselter said.
The Seahawks appeared to be well on their way to their first victory after taking the first two sets, but the visiting Tritons (3-11) picked up their play midway through. They won the third and fourth games to force the tiebreaker.
“We just changed our mental approach and became more aggressive,” said Tritons coach Tom Faasse said.
There were plenty of key contributors for both sides given the marathon match.
Erica Hoegler had four kills and three aces for the Seahawks. Alison Harper had six kills and seven aces, Maselter added four kills and six aces, and Meagen Jenkins played a strong defensive game with 16 digs.
The Tritons were led offensively by senior Debra Swain, who slammed 18 kills, and Samantha Greenwell (18 assists, 11 digs).
The opening game featured five ties. Maselter converted a kill to tie it 10-10, and then served five straight points to give the Seahawks a comfortable lead.
The Seahawks continued to control play in game two courtesy of solid defense. They were able to move into position for digs when the Tritons had kill opportunities.
The Tritons trailed 11-10 in game three, but that’s when the tide started to change. They closed that game on a 15-6 run.
Strong serving from Cody Sawyer and Jamie Bentley enabled the Tritons to build an 11-2 lead in game four.
In game five, the score was tied six times before McBride served the final two points.
Lemon Bay 3, Ida Baker 0: The Ida Baker Bulldogs weren’t able to get over the hump in a tight game three, and lost at Lemon Bay 13-25, 13-25, 23-25.
Baker coach Rene Van Horn said the Bulldogs experienced an “off night.”
Seniors Taylor Van Horn (eight kills), Chelsea Shafer (seven kills), Deonnah Findley (three aces) and Taryn Maymon (four blocks) were among the leaders for the Bulldogs (9-5), who play at Mariner Thursday.
North Fort Myers 3, Estero 1: The visiting Red Knights leaned on their defense in a four-set victory at Estero, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 26-24.
Lindsey Tryon recorded 14 digs, Lexi Schlotter and Jessica Petrucci finished with 11 and nine digs, respectively.
Jessica Wagner contributed six blocks and five aces.
The Knights (9-9) host Cape Coral Wednesday.
PC Community Christian 3, Oasis 2: After salting away the first two games, Oasis hung tough only to drop the next three in a tight 21-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-13 loss to Port Charlotte Community Christian.
Emma Nelson led the Sharks with seven kills and five service aces in their final varsity match of the season. Julie Harper added six kills while Brianna Ondrovic handed out 18 assists.
The Sharks finish their first varsity season at 1-3.
Boys Golf
At Royal Tee Golf Club: All four Cape High players turned in lower scores that the competition en route to recording easy victories over Dunbar and Island Coast.
H. Halverson led the way for the Seahawks with a medalist round of 2-over 38, backed by Anthony Myers with 40, Anthony Lawrence with 43 – his first time breaking 45 – and Tyler Doyle with 45.
The Seahawks’ total of 165 easily outdistanced Dunbar’s 229 with Island Coast one player short for a team score. Jordan Carr was low for the Gators with 57.
Cape (9-5) takes on Mariner, Ida Baker, Island Coast and North Fort Myers Wednesday in the North of the River Championship at Palmetto Pine.
Cape Coral 165 – H Halverson 38, Anthony Myers 40, Anthony Lawrence 43, Tyler Doyle 45.
Dunbar 229 – Luc Bednarek 50, Robert MacArthur 55, Connor Metz 55, Chris Kelly 69.
Island Coast – Jordan Carr 57, Rebecca Rivera 70, Chris Quiroga 72.
At River Hall: Braden Junkins carded a medalist round of 2-over 38 to lead Mariner to victory over Riverdale and Estero.
The Tritons garnered a team total of 166 compared to Riverdale at 185 and Estero at 239.
C.J. Cricco (41), Dean Hover (42) and Kyle Schulte (45) backed the Tritons’ effort to improve to 9-3-1 heading into Wednesday’s North of the River Championship at Palmetto Pine. The Tritons hold the North of the River traveling trophy with Cape High, Island Coast, Ida Baker and North Fort Myers competing to take it away this year.
Mariner 166 – Braden Junkins 38, C.J. Cricco 41, Dean Hover 42, Kyle Schulte 45.
Riverdale 185 – Mike Johnston 42, Joe Sudak 49, Nick Clodfelter 45, Zane Warner 49.
Estero 239 – David Defenthler 55, Bobby Bojarzin 57, Ryan Kemmerer 63, Gianni Hinkson 64.
Cross Country
At Evangelical Christian: Oasis placed third in a five-way meet Tuesday, putting the Sharks’ season record at 5-4.
Collin Cole led the Sharks quintet with a time of 20:54 to place 11th overall, a little over a minute behind first-place finisher Wes Penberthy of ECS.
Oasis’ top five runners all placed in the top 19 to accumulate 73 team points and rank third behind ECS at 23 and Gateway at 48. Canterbury and Southwest Florida Christian competed, but did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score.
Oasis is in action again Saturday in the Lightning Storm Invitational at Caloosahatchee Regional Park, hosted by Lehigh.
Oasis – 11. Collin Cole 20:54; 13. Cody Curtis 21:32; 14. Tim Warren 21:34; 16. Danny Rawley 22:20; 19. Alex Trujillo 23:59.
Sports editor Jim Linette contributed to this report.