LAUREL HILL — North Okaloosa County will be represented in Thursday’s District 1-1A volleyball  tournament final at Northview High School.

Laurel Hill School’s volleyball team made sure of that Monday beating Northview in the tournament play in match in straight sets. The Hoboes beat the Chiefs 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15.

The win earned Laurel Hill a date with Baker at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Northview. The Gators are the district’s top seed and are going for their 13th consecutive district title.

Laurel Hill (9-11) struggled at times against the Chiefs (0-14) on Monday after having beaten Northview twice during the regular season.

“We really need to get as deep as we can into the playoffs just for the experience factor for this  young team,” Hobo Coach Kent Zessin said. “I don’t care who  you are, it’s hard to beat any team three times. I was really scared that we might be overlooking.

“We weren’t overlooking them, but we didn’t play our top match tonight, which expected if you play a team like we did and beat them. You have to go out there every night and earn it. The girls played hard and did what we had to do to keep us alive.”

The Hoboes did what they had to do against the outmanned Chiefs.

Laurel Hill jumped to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set, but never was able to put Northview away.

Whenever the Chiefs rallied a kill by Kaylee L’Homme or Kylee Seymour or a big serve from Rachel Welsh or Bailey Stokes swung the momentum back in Laure Hill’s favor.

Northview took an early 4-0 lead in the second set, but was unable to hold off the Hoboes. The early deficit didn’t seem to bother the Hoboes as they climbed their way back into contention in the set. At times the Chiefs were their own worst enemies giving Laurel Hill five and six consecutive points on unforced errors.

Northview never really challenged the Hoboes in the final set thanks to the play of L’Homme.

L’Homme was a beast at the net scoring five of Laurel Hill’s first 10 points in the set. L’Homme finished things off with an ace to end the match and send the Chiefs home where they will watch the rest of the tournament.

L’Homme led Laurel Hill with 11 kills. She also had three aces. Welsh had four aces and eight digs.

Stokes had four aces and six assists. Kaylyn McLaney led the Hoboes with seven assists.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill advances in district volleyball tournament (PHOTOS)

CRESTVIEW — Baker, Crestview and Laurel Hill volleyball teams are setting their sights on grabbing a crown and advancing to state playoffs.

Baker and Laurel Hill will play in the District 1-1A tournament, along with Central, Jay and Northview. Crestview is in the District 2-6A tournament with Choctaw and Fort Walton Beach.

The Gators are eyeing their 13th consecutive district title and a 23rd straight trip to the playoffs. The Hoboes hope to make a third-straight trip to the playoffs. And the Bulldogs want to return to the playoffs after missing them a year ago. 

 Baker was perfect in regular-season district play, and didn’t drop a set in eight district matches. But Gator Coach Tommiko Parks said the team can’t overlook any opponent in the tournament. “We have to go in and play our type of volleyball," she said. "We have to play very consistently.

“We have to play strong in serve-receive and make sure our game is peaking at the right time. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. We have to concentrate on how we play volleyball and do the things well that we need to do.”

Laurel Hill kicks off tournament play against Northview at 5 p.m. Monday at Laurel Hill. The Hoboes won the right to host the match by beating the Chiefs twice during the regular season, earning the four seed in the tournament.

The tournament's semifinals and finals will be played Tuesday and Thursday at Northview.

Baker faces the Laurel Hill-Northview match's winner at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Laurel Hill Coach Kent Zessin knows the Hoboes will have a challenge in the tournament. “Even though we lost to Baker 3-0 here last week, I felt like we played well against them,” he said. “They are not the No. 1 seed for nothing. They are real solid and have a lot of weapons.

“But I like the way we held our own here at the house. I like our chances here at home against Northview to get back over to Northview (in the tournament semifinals and get another shot at Baker.”

Crestview enters the District 2-6A tournament as the No. 3 seed in the three-team district. The Bulldogs travel to Choctaw for the tournament's opening round at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The match's winner will play for the district title at 6 p.m. Thursday at top seed Fort Walton Beach.

Crestview was 0-4 in the district play, and Bulldog Coach Kathy Combest said, “We can go in(to the tournament) with no worries and just play ball. The pressure's on them,” she said. “What we have to do is we have to be consistent, try to not have turnovers where we make points for them, and not miss serves.

“If we play with the three things I said, and go hard the whole time, we will be hard to beat.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: District volleyball championships up for grabs

LAUREL HILL — Next year Laurel Hill School junior volleyball players Bailey Stokes, Kaylyn McLaney, Olivia Stewart, Lauren Mitchell, Rachel Welsh and Kaylee L’Homme will celebrate senior night at the conclusion of the 2016 season.

But this year the Hoboes had no seniors preparing to leave the program as they hosted Pensacola Christian Academy on Tuesday in their last regular season home match.

In what might be a dress rehearsal for next year a quartet of juniors led the way as Laurel Hill took down the Warriors in four set by scores of 25-6, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17.

L’Homme spearheaded the Hobo attack at the net with 20 kills. Mitchell was good on 11 services ace. Stokes had 16 assists.

Welch added 10 digs for the Hoboes.

“We came out and played real well that first game,” Hobo Coach Kent Zessin said. “But then it was a coaching decision to flip the roster (lineup) around a little (in the second set) and we didn’t react real well to it but we still won.

“In game three we got into a little funk where we weren’t hitting the ball real well and our communication wasn’t good. We have to continue to improve every day and learn from our mistakes.”

The first set was all Laurel Hill (8-9) as the Hoboes led by as much as 19-1 before the Warriors had a brief rally as they tried to match points with Laurel Hill, but Laurel Hill’s lead was too big and the Hoboes cruised to the first set win.

The second set followed a different script but had the same results, a Hobo win.

PCA took an early 5-2 lead before the Hoboes came charging back behind the play of McLaney, Seymour and Micah McVay. The set ended with an ace from Mitchell.

Laurel Hill seemed to be in easy control of the third set with a 17-8 lead when the Warriors started to click as the Hoboes began to struggle. Pensacola Christian outscored Laurel Hill 17-7 down the stretch to take its lone set of the match.

The Warriors carried the momentum into the fourth set in building an 8-4 lead. A Mitchell score seemed to shift the flow of the game back in Laurel Hill’s favor as the Hoboes began to catch fire.

Back-to-back aces by McVay gave the Hoboes their first lead in the set at 10-9. PCA had one last push and regained the lead at 13-12.

A score by Stokes followed by a Mitchell ace put the Hoboes in front for good at 14-13. A few minutes later L’Homme slammed down her final kill as the Hoboes walked off the floor with the win.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill volleyball teams takes down Pensacola Christian (PHOTOS)

BAKER — The Baker School volleyball team is hitting on all cylinders heading into next week’s District 1-1A tournament at Northview High School.

If Monday’s match against Freeport is any indication of how the Gators will play come tournament time it’s safe to say a 13th straight title is well within reach.

 Baker made quick work of the Bulldogs in sweeping the match 3-0 by scores of 25-9, 25-12 and 25-15.

The Gators (13-8) trailed Freeport for exactly one point in the match. The lone Bulldog lead came at 1-0 in the third set. A kill by Baker’s Ayajah Coleman pulled the Gators even and sparked a 5-0 run in which Baker scored four points with Emily Stewart in serve.

“As we get closer to the district tournament we are looking to be more consistent and sharp in all aspects of our game,” Baker Coach Tommiko Parks said. “We came out strong tonight. It was senior night and the girls wanted to make a good showing.

“We were fairly consistent in our serve; we were consistent on the front row and fairly consistent on the back row. We are just trying to play well and peak as we get to the district tournament. We are heading in the right direction now.”

In the early part of the first set it looked as if the Bulldogs might not even score. Taylor Brunson opened the match in serve for Baker leading the Gators to a quick 11-0 lead before Freeport could score.

The Bulldogs never got any closer than nine points the remainder of the set.

Baker got off to another quick start in the second set and quickly pushed to a double digit lead at 14-4 as the Bulldogs never got any closer than 10 points the rest of the set.

The third set was a bit of a letdown for the Gators but even when not playing their best they were too strong for an outmanned Freeport squad. Freeport closed the Baker lead to 15-14 before an Ashley Black kill propelled Baker to a 10-1 run to close out the match.

Balance was the key for the Gators throughout the match as they continued to pressure Freeport.

Taylor Brunson and Coleman led Baker with six kills each. Emily Stewart had four kills, Brittany Brunson three kills and both Ashley Black and Lindsey Stewart with two kills each.

Taylor Brunson also had a match best seven aces and 10 assists.

BAKER 3, FREEPORT 0: 25-9, 25-12, 25-15.

BAKER STATS: Jessica Black 3 aces, 3 assists, 4 digs; Brittany Brunson 2 aces, 5 digs, 3 kills; Emily Stewart 3 aces, 4 digs, 4 kills; Taylor Brunson 7 aces, 10 assists, 1 block 2 digs, 6 kills; Whitley Taylor 3 digs, Lindsey Stewart 6 assists, 2 digs, 2 aces; Ayajah Coleman 1 block, 6 kills; Ashley Black 1 ace, 2 kills.

Baker volleyball stats

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker volleyball team peaking as tournament approaches (PHOTOS)

LAUREL HILL – Baker’s volleyball team had an answer for everything Thursday at Laurel Hill.

The Gators had an answer for their inconsistent play.

They had an answer for the energetic home crowd.

And they had an answer for what Hoboes coach Kent Zessin called one of his team's best showings all season.

Baker finished the District 1-1A schedule an undefeated 8-0 with the 25-21, 25-18, 25-17 win.

The Gators (12-5) overcame serving faults, errors and the cheers and yells of the Laurel Hill faithful.

To do it, Ashley Black dominated the net with three blocks while Taylor Brunson smashed the ball into the floor with seven kills, plus eight assists and eight digs.

However, it was Laurel Hill (7-9, 2-6) leading 20-19 in the first set. A bad serve preceded tied it up and Emily Stewart's kill put Baker ahead 23-20. Then she clinched the match with another kill.

"We always need to be able and step up and play well," Baker coach Tommiko Parks said. "We haven't quite gotten our rhythm back from Lena Daoud, our libero, tearing her ACL. It's a work in progress."

Laurel Hill led the second set 6-3 before Baker scored eight straight points, capped by Lindsey Stewart's ace. She finished with 13 assists while her sister, Emily Stewart, had 12 digs. Brittany Brunson had seven kills.

For the Hoboes, Bailey Stokes reached double digits in assists. Kaylee L'Homme had five kills and Rachel Welsh had 14 digs.

"We're a young team. I start three freshman, no seniors," Zessin said. "We had a great turnout from our supporters. Our players fed off it, especially at the start."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker downs Laurel Hill to stay perfect in district play

CRESTVIEW — There is still some work to do for Crestview High School’s volleyball team heading into the District 2-6A tournament later this month.

The Bulldogs have been very successful outside the district boasting a 15-2 record. In the district is a different story.

The Bulldogs went into Thursday night’s district match with Fort Walton Beach seeking that first district win.

The Vikings were looking to lock up the number one seed in the upcoming district tournament. And with that top seed, an automatic bid to the state playoffs out of the three-team district.

If Thursday’s contest was any indication the district tournament should be exciting.

It took the Vikings five sets to subdue a gritty Bulldog squad, but Fort Walton Beach clinched the top seed with a 3-2 win by scores of 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 24-26, 15-13.

Bulldog Coach Kathy Combest tried to take the loss in stride as she looked at the big picture.

“We just have to keep playing (hard) and hope we have a peak (in the district tournament),” she said. “There’s no pressure on us it’s on them (Fort Walton Beach and Choctaw) they are the one and two seeds.”

Viking Coach Gigi Vardai said the match hinged on one simple thing.

“They (the Bulldogs) started playing better in the third and fourth games – in the fifth game also,” he said. “I didn’t even know the score was that close. At any level it’s a serve and receive battle.

“We won the serve and receive battle in the first and second games and then we got sloppy and went away from our good habits. That’s a big victory for us.”

Zadie Engelberger led the Viking attack with 17 kills, 7 digs and a pair of aces. Sidney Lavin was an assist machine dishing out 38 passes that turned into Viking scores. Lavin also had seven digs.

Kara Fisher had 13 kills and eight blocks. Zoey Quituga had 18 digs.

The Vikings (15-2, 3-1) looked poised to put the match away quickly after taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Bulldogs looked to get off to a quick start and took a 3-0 lead in the first set.

Crestview was up 7-4 after a Christa Johnson kill. It was downhill for the Bulldogs after that.  

Fort Walton Beach went on an 8-2 run to take control of the set.

Lavin was in serve for the Vikings as they opened an 8-0 lead to start the second set. Engelberger had a couple of big kills to aid the run and Savannah Bailey was a force at the net as well.

The Bulldogs wouldn’t go away behind the strong play of Kierra Potts, Cailey Ness and Marisa Rogers, but early deficit was too much for Crestview to overcome.

Rogers, Potts and Johnson continued to play well in the third and fourth sets. Freshman Riley Edwards showed she will be a force at the net in the years to come too.

Back-to-back kills by Edwards in the fifth set gave Crestview a 5-2 lead. The Bulldogs led 6-2 when the Vikings came back behind the strong play of Fisher and Engelberger at the net. Engelberger ended the match with an ace.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's comeback attempt falls short (PHOTOS)