More BCHS Volleyball

• 2008 Fall All-Area Teams: Girls volleyball
• Prep volleyball: Gulf Coast, Barron advance, will meet in 5A-15 semifinal
• Prep volleyball: District tournament pairings

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NAPLES — This year, it was Gulf Coast’s turn.

The Sharks volleyball team on Wednesday avenged last year’s Class 5A-District 15 semifinal loss to Barron Collier with a five-set win in this year’s semifinals at Gulf Coast.

The match ended Barron’s season and gives Gulf Coast an automatic pass to the playoffs. The Sharks play top-seeded Fort Myers in the district championship at 7 tonight at North Fort Myers.

Gulf Coast had already defeated Barron twice this season, but each time the scores got closer. The story was similar on Wednesday, as Gulf Coast won the first two sets (25-22, 25-17). But Barron used its scrappy defense to go on a scoring run and come back to win sets 3 and 4 (25-16, 25-23), bringing on a decisive fifth set.

Second-year Sharks coach Christy Wright didn’t want to see her team collapse again in five sets. Just last week, Gulf Coast dropped a five-set match to Naples after winning the first two sets.

So Wright called her team together.

“I challenged them,” she said.

The Sharks responded, looking much sharper in a 15-5 fifth-set win that left little doubt.

Gulf Coast won out behind improved play from its four key sophomores, including Kelly Lancellot, who had 12 blocks.

As usual, though, it was junior hitters Holly Reschke and Karina Mambuca who carried the day, with 16 and 17 kills, respectively.

“That’s good news for us, when (Reschke) doesn’t lead in kills,” Wright said. “We usually rely on her. ... Tonight we were more well-rounded and gave (Mambuca) chances.”

As for Barron, the feisty Cougars almost toppled a taller and more powerful Gulf Coast squad. It started in the third set, when first-year coach Nick Sweat said his team “executed the game plan perfectly” for a 25-16 win.

“I don’t know what happened in Game 5,” Sweat said, shaking his head. “But I was proud of how they came back. That’s tough to do.”

The 2003 Barron Collier grad said he’s already looking forward to his next season with the Cougars, and with nine players back — including five key sophomores from this year’s team — the Cougars will have a lot to build on.

“Volleyball at Barron Collier is a year-round sport now,” Sweat said.

• • •

FORT MYERS 3, CAPE CORAL-BAKER 0: Fort Myers played this other district semifinal without two key players, junior Kaitlin Holm and sophomore Kristin Shotwell. Baker was without one of its captains, junior Taylor Van Horn, all due to illnesses.

The superior and deeper Green Wave (21-3) didn’t seem phased. They defeated the Bulldogs 25-9, 25-18, 25-9 to advance to the championship match against Gulf Coast.

Sophomore Brittany Brinson had seven kills, and sophomore Jessica Potanovic registered nine aces for Fort Myers.

— Cape Coral Daily Breeze