Lady Pirates Advance to Regional Finals-11/13/08

By Clint Cox

SNEADS – They didn’t do it the easy way but the Sneads Lady Pirates volleyball squad captured the FHSAA Class 2A Regional One Semi-Final on Tuesday night with a 3-2 win over Baker. Sneads won the first two games but then dropped the next two games. That sent the match to a fifth and final game. The Lady Pirates hung on to win and now advance to the Regional Finals to be played Saturday at 1 pm CST at Maclay (Tallahassee).
Game one was back and forth with both teams leading by as many as 3 points during the game. But neither team could pull away and Baker rallied to tie the game at 20-20. Mattie Collins, the FACA District 2 Player of the Year, closed out the game with back to back kills to give Sneads a 27-25 win. Game two was just as close through the contest. Baker got up by as many as five points but Sneads rallied to tie the game at 19. The game was again tied at 23-23 before the Lady Pirates notched two straight points for a 25-23 victory. Baker had no intention of rolling over and rallied to win the next two games by scores of 25-17 and 25-23.
Game five was nip and tuck as neither team led by more than 2 points. Collins and Meagan Smith recorded kills to keep the Lady Pirates close. The hero of the game proved to be Tiffany Guerra as she closed out the game with three straight aces and Sneads prevailed 15-13.
Lady Pirate Head Coach Shelia Roberts gave all the credit to a higher power. "That’s the God factor. The girls worked hard but we didn’t play well the last couple of games. We committed too many errors. But they kept battling and Tiffany came up with some great serves when we needed them the most," said Roberts. She also noted that Baker and Pensacola Christian (last Tuesday’s quarter final opponent) gave the Lady Pirates fits. "They play a different style than we are accustomed to, they do a lot of tap overs. We play better when we match up with teams that play more of a power game because we have such good blockers," commented Roberts. Her Lady Pirates improved to 20-9 on the season and face off against a Maclay squad that beat Liberty County 3-1.