When the injury and sickness bugs bite, teams must respond.

The Lady Bulldogs of Crestview are a team facing injuries and illnesses. But coach James Kerrell won’t use that as an excuse for Thursday’s loss to Choctawhatchee.

The Lady Indians swept Crestview 3-0 by scores of 25-21, 25-10, 25-19.

“We did some good things,” Kerrell said. “I felt like in the first and third sets we played OK. The second set was awful.

“Just mentally we have to be able to put a complete game together. We are dealing with some injuries and sickness. But Choctaw’s a good team and we can’t make as many mistakes as we did and be successful.”

The Lady Bulldogs got off to a decent start in the first set never falling too far behind.

When Crestview needed a big hit to slow down Choctaw the usual players stepped up. Aubrey Sheffield had several big hits early as did Avery Price.

With the Lady Bulldogs trailing 12-7, it was a big blow by Kaeden Price that righted the ship.

Choctaw led 17-11 when a Lady Indian serving error opened the door for a six-point run by the Lady Bulldogs.

Price was key in the run with strong serves and continued good play at the net. An ace by Price tied the set at 17-17.

The set was tied 18-18 before Choctaw closed out the set strong.

The Lady Indians took a 3-2 lead early in the second set and pulled away to go up 2-0 in the match.

Crestview held a lead much of the third set as Price and Sheffield continued playing well. Carleigh Krumnow had a hand in the Lady Bulldog lead as well along Shanyia Faust and Catrina Dall’olio.

But after leading the set 12-7, Crestview was unable to hold onto the lead as the Lady Indians finished off the match.

Close matches are nothing new to the Lady Hoboes.

“It was that way for us all last week,” coach Kasey Campbell said. “We had three games (matches) last week and played five sets. We lost every single one.”

Inevitably, Campbell said a combination of slow starts and slow finishes doom her team.

“We have a hard time not starting strong and a hard time not finishing,” she said. “In the middle we play great.”

It was in fact PCA that started strong jumping to a quick 5-1 lead.

With Kennedi Kilpatrick in serve, the Lady Hoboes pulled to within two points of Pensacola Christian at 6-4. For every punch Laurel Hill delivered, PCA had a counter punch and it would be that way throughout the match.

A strong serving streak by Savannah Riley was capped by a Laramie Boykin kill as Laurel Hill tied the first set 10-10. An unforced error by the Lady Warriors put Laurel Hill in front for the first time in the match 11-10.

Kaelin Martin and Nevaeh Langford sparked the Lady Hoboes in the middle of the set. Boykin continued her strong play at the net as well. A Boykin kill gave Laurel Hill a 24-22 lead as the Lady Hoboes needed just one point to take the first set.

It wasn’t to be though as PCA went on an 8-4 run to win the set.

An ace by Raelee McDonald put Laurel Hill up 1-0 to start the second set. The Lady Hoboes played strong throughout the set.

PCA’s biggest lead of the set came at 12-10. Laurel Hill outscored the Warriors 15-5 to close out the set.

Kennedi Kilpatrick did much of the damage in serve for Laurel Hill. Langford served well down the stretch as well.

The final two sets followed the same pattern as the first set with Pensacola Christian taking an early lead and holding off a late charge from the Lady Hoboes.

“I know a lot of it is just mindset,” Campbell said. “They’ve got to learn how to start and finish.

“I just have keeping to them that they can do it. Maybe it will stick one of these days.”

After starting the season playing up in competition against larger schools, Baker finally squared off against a 1A opponent. And it wasn’t just any opponent, it was the biggest rival.

The Lady Gators wasted no time in setting the tone for the match when the varsity teams finally took the court.

Chloe Ates started the first set with an ace to give Baker a lead it never relinquished. Baker scored a point off a misplay by Jay. A kill by Kaleigh Moss made it 3-0.

Jay scored on a serving error to make it 3-1. But the power game of Moss and Maddie Mills started to show their dominance early. Two kills by Mills were followed by a Moss kill as Baker went up 6-1.

Another Moss kill made the score 7-2. McKenzie McGraw and Katrina Price teamed up for a block giving the Lady Gators a 10-4 lead.

It was more of the same as the Lady Gators continued to stretch their lead in the set.

Ates remained strong in serve dotting the court with aces. Moss, Mills and McGraw dominated the net as Baker rolled to the win in the first set on the way to taking the match. Many of the Baker kills came on perfect sets by Lily Adams.

Friday’s win followed the first Lady Gator victory of the season when they traveled to Pace and took out the 6A Lady Patriots 3-2. Scores in the match were 22-25, 25-17, 14-25, 31-29, 15-7.

The Lady Bulldogs came out on top sweeping the Lady Gators 3-0 by scores of 25-12, 25-18, 27-25.

Crestview was coming off its first loss of the season on Tuesday falling to Navarre in four sets. Coach James Kerrell was happy with the way his team came back after the disappointing defeat.

“We played well,” he said. “ It was good to see us bounce back tonight and do some things we needed to do to be successful. We kind of struggled against Navarre on Tuesday, but we had a good practice yesterday (Wednesday) and the girls worked on some stuff.

“They are changing their mindsets on some things. I was very pleased. They are a fun group to coach.”

For a while it looked as if Crestview might run away and hide from the home team. The Lady Bulldogs took the lead at 2-1 and cruised to the first-set win.

Crestview played well in the set, but the Lady Gators helped with several unforced errors.

The usual standouts came up big for Crestview in the set. Avery Price, Aubrey Sheffield and Kaeden Foxx led the attack early for the Lady Bulldogs.

Price had one of her best serving matches of the young season with several aces in the set as a sign of things to come. She also did damage at the net controlling the middle for Crestview.

Sheffield and Foxx were strong at the net as was Dina Sheikho in what was a team effort.

Kaleigh Moss and Maddie Mills did their best to rally the Lady Gators, but after falling behind 16-6 they were never able to get close to Crestview in the set.

Baker showed some life early in the second set. With Moss serving, the Lady Gators scored three consecutive points to take an early 4-3 lead. Mills had a big hit at the net as did Haley Westberry in the Baker burst.

A Sheikho kill sparked Crestview tying the set at 4-4 and giving the Lady Bulldogs the serve. Shaylee Frederick was in serve as Crestview scored three more points to take the lead. Sheffield capped the run with a kill as CHS led 7-4.

McKenzie McGraw stopped the bleeding for Baker with a kill giving the Lady Gators the serve. Chloe Ates served an ace to pull Baker to within a point of Crestview. The Lady Gators would get no closer in the set despite continued good play from Moss and a strong presence by Lily Adams.

The biggest lead either team held in the third set was three points, which belonged to Crestview. The three points was enough of a safety net for Crestview.

The Lady Gators were able to string together three or four points at a time, but were never able to go up by more than a point as Crestview held on for the win.

“I think they (the Lady Bulldogs) came ready to play from the start and we didn’t,” Baker coach Chelsea Medley said. “I think we are better than that. I think they played a great game and that’s nothing against them, but  I don’t think we gave them our best.

“We’ve got to find some maturity and just come being ready to play. It’s how you focus before. It’s about mental toughness and emotional control.”

The question is at the heart of all things Baker volleyball. It has to do with the streak of consecutive volleyball championships that is now at 20. This year the team goes for a 21st straight district title.

“I never get tired of answering the question (about the streak),” Medley said. “That’s something that they (the players) have totally bought into. It’s an exciting time every year.

“You have a chance to add more notches to the belt and keep the streak alive,” Medley continued. “You do carry the pressure and stuff that goes with it, but that gives you the extra incentive to work hard and try and maintain as a program.”

Baker made it to the state championship match a year ago before falling short of the elusive state title.

There’s a good possibility that the Gators will again be playing for the championship in November.

Baker has a mixture of veteran leaders and rising young players.
Lily Adams will be the setter. Chloe Ates is the libero. Haley Westberry, a front row player and hitter, and Karsyn Crinklaw, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, round out the senior class.

Madie Mills, who can be dominant at the net as a middle hitter, leads a strong junior class. McKenzie McGraw, Kayliegh Moss and Addison Cadenhead are the other talented juniors on the squad.

With strong junior and senior classes, sophomores and other underclassmen will have to compete hard for playing time.

Kat Price is a sophomore who will be in the rotation. The other underclassmen are still vying for significant time on the floor.

Medley believes the team will be good in every facet of the game. Baker is big for a 1A team and has numerous players that excel at the net and in the back of the rotation. The Gators should also serve the ball well.

Along with strong serving will be the expected return of serve. And at the heart of everything Medley preaches, just as her mother, Kathy Combest did, is defense.

Baker plays up in competition all season. Jay and Central are the only two 1A teams the Gators play. Having faced Pace, Crestview, Niceville and Navarre, it’s doubtful Baker will see teams any better on a potential run to a championship.

Medley doesn’t try to escape the fact the Gators continue to chase history with each run for a district title. But she doesn’t want that district focus to take away from the joy the players have of living in the moment and playing a game.

“I don’t want them to, to put too much pressure on themselves,” she said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to just come out, have fun and play the game. If you do things right, you are going to put  yourself in position to win.

“You can’t be worried about the 21st straight title or getting back to the state championship,” Medley continued. “You just have to take each ball, each set, each game at a time, one by one and have fun while doing those things.”