Sure, football may be the most wide-open competition in the area. Volleyball may be its closest competitor, though.
Take away Durant’s sterling 26-2 (11-0 district) season, and what’s left is a tie for first place: Plant City (18-10) and Strawberry Crest (16-9), each with a 7-3 record in 7A-7 play. That’s good, healthy competition, right there.
But, that was 2013. How will these teams fare this year? By the looks of things, not much will be different. That’s good for the fans.
DURANT
The best team in the area played more like a complete team in 2013 than 2012, and it shows in their record. After losing to Bloomingdale Aug. 22, the Lady Cougars didn’t taste defeat again until November — losing to Steinbrenner in the second round of the playoffs.
Led by seniors Lexi Thompson and Victoria Fanning, Durant torched the competition to the tune of 11.8 kills per set and a .433 hitting percentage — both well above the national average, as listed on MaxPreps.com. Although Thompson didn’t come close to replicating her 2012 season — a whopping 295 kills — she bumped her kill and hit percentages up a few percentage points and committed 30 errors instead of 72. Fanning’s kills and kill percentage dropped, but she dramatically increased her hit percentage — from .288 to .455. The two combined for 317 kills.
Those are two big losses for Durant, but coach Brittany
Wilson isn’t worried about the team’s fate.
“I expect the same thing,” Wilson says. “Obviously, we lost five seniors — four started — but I expect the same thing.”
Defensively, Wilson thinks this squad could be better than last year’s. Jasmine Shamberger is moving to middle back, and Annie Quinn is returning for her senior season.
Wilson also believes sophomore outside hitter Emma Rustenberghe could be an impact player in 2014, thanks to a summer of hard work and improvements. Rustenberghe could be at the forefront of a talented group of underclassmen who, having been around last year, know what must be done to win.
“My underclassmen, they kind of watched our season last year, watched everything unfold, and I think they expect the same thing from themselves,” she says.
PLANT CITY
Fortunately for Plant City, the Lady Raiders had the fewest losses of any of the area teams. Losing just three seniors to graduation — including top player Alex Arnold and her 211 kills — means that the 2014 squad is going to be loaded with veteran talent.
“We feel confident in what we have to fill those roles,” head coach Jessica Thornton says. “We’ll have five seniors in key positions. We feel pretty confident in our ability.”
Also working in the girls’ favor was its good fortune in the district. Even though Plant City and Strawberry Crest finished with the same district record, the Lady Raiders took control of the season series after dropping the first matchup, Sept. 10, 3-1. The Lady Raiders finished that series with a 3-1 record.
Senior outside hitters Emily Fry and Kellie Pernula are expected to be impact players this season. Fry’s 106 kills in 2013 were the third-most on the team, but her 90 blocks led the way. Pernula, who picked up 70 kills in as many sets played, will be asked to take on a larger role this season.
Also of note is that senior Michelle Daubach is moving to libero and that Thornton felt that switching Kasi Maguire to setter last year was successful enough to carry into 2014.
“She’s really picked up on the position very quickly,” Thornton says. “Working with that strong lineup, I feel good about where we’re at for offense.”
And, defensively, not much should change. Three of the 2013 defensive leaders — Fry, Noelle Dietrich and Maguire — are returning. According to Thornton, everyone’s in the right mindset to win.
“These girls are dedicated, and very willing to go the extra mile to get us where we need to be as a program,” she says.
STRAWBERRY CREST
Starting out strong is going to be key for the Lady Chargers in 2014. Three of their first five games will pit them against Hillsborough, Plant City and Durant — all strong programs — and the first four of five will be played on the road.
And, they also won’t want to replicate last season’s play against the district’s other top teams. Losing three of four to Plant City, even in invitational tournament play, was not a good look.
But, to Crest’s advantage, they’ll have one of the top players in the area coming back.
Terra Brooks, who is also a very good basketball player, was awesome when playing middle for the Lady Chargers last year. As a sophomore, Brooks racked up 238 kills (57.2%) and 56 blocks. Needless to say, Wilson and Thornton wouldn’t even dream of overlooking Brooks when drawing up their game plans for Crest.
The Lady Chargers have already started 2014 on a good note, having played in the Riverview Pre-Season Tournament last Monday evening. They started with a 2-0 sweep of Brandon, winning 25-4 and 25-13, and then beat Riverview, 25-13, 14-25, 17-15. Brooks finished with 12 kills and 10 blocks.
Although that was over a week ago, it’s exactly the kind of momentum that Strawberry Crest needed to start the regular season.
ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM It sure sounds as though catching any of the Plant City-area volleyball action this year will be a good idea, given how much potential these girls have to go far. Why not start watching as soon as possible, especially with a few great rivalry games early on? Here are the next home games for each team: Durant vs. East Bay: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4 Plant City vs. Strawberry Crest;: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8 Strawberry Crest vs. Durant: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.