DOVER — DOVER — The Strawberry Crest High volleyball team kicked off the 2012 season with a win Tuesday, defeating rival Plant City 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15).
The match was a good measuring tool for both teams to see where they stand at this early juncture in the season.
The Lady Chargers came out shaky in the first game, with Plant City getting out to a 8-2 lead, but they would battled back, thanks to on-point passing and limited mistakes.
“We got our nerves out of the way in that first game, and after that, it was game time,” said senior libero Jamee Townsend.
SCHS narrowly took the first game 25-23, but the Lady Chargers carried that momentum to Game 2, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, before Plant City got some timely kills to tie things up at 14. SCHS got things together and took Game 2 25-19.
The third game became the best of the night. Tied 4-4 early on, Plant City went on a 7-2 run to go ahead 11-6, forcing Strawberry Crest coach Morgan Miltner to take a timeout.
That proved to be a smart decision. The Lady Chargers battled back to tie the game up at 11 before taking a 12-11 lead. Plant City then went on another run, this time 7-1 to take a decisive 19-13 advantage.
With their opponent at game point with a 24-17 lead, the Lady Chargers saw life but fell short 25-22. The win was a positive for new PCHS head coach Jessica Thorton, who was happy to see her young team persevere down two games in a match.
“We’re young, but we’re experienced young players,” Thorton said. “They know what it takes to win, and they’re absolutely willing to do what it takes to win. Fighting back and winning Game 3 after losing the first two is really important.”
The Lady Chargers jumped out to an early lead in the fourth game and never looked back, winning it, 23-15, and taking the match.
For Miltner, passing was the key to the game and confirmed her pre-season expectations.
“Our passing, especially out of serve-receive, was on point the entire time,” she said. “That’s what we do. We’re a passing team, and, without fail, whether we’re up or we’re down, our passing is on it.”
Miltner also noted her team is starting two freshmen this year — Alex Calescibetta and Terra Brooks — and said their development and composure throughout the season will be key.
“To see how they play when we’re up and when we’re down is really important,” she said. “I think we’re off to a good start. We’re young, but we have a lot of potential.”
According to Thorton, the game came down to errors.
“It came down to who made the least amount of errors, and Strawberry Crest played a tight game and made very few errors,” Thorton said. “I think we’re evenly matched, and it shows with the scores. I don’t know if we ran out of gas or if the errors just caught up to us, but we have some toughness to work on, but I think this is a great place for us to start.”
Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com. “>http://fotograf-volgograd.ru/dengi-pod-zarplatu.php