Gainesville Buchholz tops West Port in volleyball

Bobcats outlast scrappy Wolf Pack squad in four sets.
By Mark Pinson, Special to Ocala Gazette
Gainesville Buchholz utilized its superior height at the net to good advantage as senior outside hitter Jovanna Pettigrew had a match-high 11 kills to lead the Bobcats to a hard-fought, four-set win over West Port by scores of 25-19, 25-18, 19-25 and 25-15 on Sept. 3.
The win evened Class 6A Buchholz’s record at 5-5 on the season, while the loss snapped a three-game win streak for West Port and dropped the Class 7A Wolf Pack to 3-4 overall.
“It’s hard because we’re always undersized,” said West Port coach Mike Rasdall of his team’s lack of height. “We don’t traditionally get 6-footers here. We’re small and have to pass well and play good defense, which is our bread and butter. We have to do a better job of serve-receive and we have to be more consistent.”
The first set was tied at 3 as West Port senior Abbey McClinton found the range with a powerful kill shot. Buchholz began to steadily pull away behind solid play at the net by senior Lillian Logan, who contributed seven kills. The Bobcats increased their advantage to 18-12 as freshman Aaliyah Ray had a pair of blocks and a couple of cross-court spikes.
West Port battled back as Keylimar Mejias drilled a pair of ace serves and Gaveena Smith nailed two of her team-high 10 kills to pull the Wolf Pack within 22-18. But two well-placed spikes by Addie Sixbey and a block by Ray sealed the first set for Buchholz.
West Port jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set before Buchholz roared back behind freshman Aubrey Waters, who had three of her eight kills. Freshman Julia Almond had back-to-back service aces as the Bobcats took a 24-18 lead. Logan had a perfectly placed dink shot to sew up the second set for the Bobcats.
The third set was closely contested and, with the score tied at 9, West Port dominated play and stormed out to a commanding 19-11 lead. Buchholz took advantage of several Wolf Pack miscues to close within 24-19, but Smith had a perfect block to end the set.
The final set was tight and well played, with Buchholz clinging to a 9-7 lead. Logan began to dominate at the net and Waters added several service aces to increase the lead to 18-9.
West Port made a final run, but it wasn’t enough as Logan and Pettigrew found open spaces with their kill shots and a spike attempt by the Wolf Pack sailed long to give the set and the match to the Bobcats.
“The girls played hard and we’re still looking for the right mix” coach Rasdall said.