Volleyball: Clearwater edges Terrapins in five

Posted Sep 10, 2009 by Nick Williams

Updated Sep 10, 2009 at 10:42 PM

TAMPA Clearwater volleyball coach Joe Dixon couldn’t watch any longer.

With his team just a few points away from defeat, Dixon called a timeout to rally his players.

“That was the turnaround,” Dixon said. “We were getting loose and I said “instead of four of five (players) on a point, lets get all six together.’ “

The speech worked, as his Tornadoes came from behind to win a crucial Game 4 and used the momentum to win Game 5 as Clearwater beat host Tampa Prep, 3-2, in a non-district volleyball match Thursday night.

Clearwater won in scores of 25-23, 24-26,17-25, 25-23, 15-12. In Game 4, Tampa Prep led 20-18 until Clearwater went on a 7-3 run.

Junior outside hitter Kelsey Sout led the Tornadoes (2-1) with 15 kills.

“They needed it. I’m very proud of them,” Dixon said. “(Tampa Prep coach) Mike (Flynn) won (Game 3 and 4) when he split his offense and it caught us off guard. We couldn’t adjust to it.”

Junior Erika McGriff led Tampa Prep (1-1) with 13 kills, 16 digs and four blocks. Junior middle hitter Savannah Cantrell added 11 kills and four blocks, Latora Lofgren had 16 digs, Megan Aschenbrenner had 14 digs and senior Caroline Dillabough had 22 assists.”

“The result doesn’t matter tonight,” Flynn said. “Its about the process. The way they went about doing things were the right way.”