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Berkeley Prep volleyball tops PHU to stay perfect

 
Published Sept. 13, 2016

TAMPA — Palm Harbor University was supposed to travel to Berkeley Prep on Sept. 1 for a matchup of the two top teams in Tampa Bay. That match was cancelled because of Hurricane Hermine. Instead of not playing at all, the schools decided to make up the match on Monday afternoon.

Berkeley Prep started quickly, overcame a second game lull and defeated the Hurricanes 25-10, 16-25, 25-12, 26-24 to improve to 5-0. For the Buccaneers, the win comes just three days after it defeated perennial power Venice 3-1.

"It's a Monday night so it's not like we had a lot of energy," Bucs' coach Randy Dagostino said. "But things went really well for us in Set 1. Things were a little choppier in Set 2 but then we got the energy back. I thought (PHU's) game plan was to keep the ball off the floor and they did a really good job of that."

Things certainly went well for Berkeley Prep at the start, with a 9-1 run highlighted by a pair of kills from Kellyn Trowse and two aces by Jenna Hampton. The Hurricanes went on a short three-point run, but then the Buccaneers got five straight points to make it 14-4. At 19-6, Berkeley Prep scored the final six points to finish out the game.

The Hurricanes put the first game behind them and started strong in the second game.

PHU (4-1) started on a 6-1 run. It was tied at 8 when the Hurricanes went on a 7-0 run. Julia Angelo had a kill and an ace in the run and Kylie Stojak had two kills. Berkeley Prep got no closer than five points after that.

The Buccaneers regrouped to take the third game, especially late. With a 17-12 lead, Berkeley scored the final eight points. The Hurricanes had three unforced errors in the stretch and Zoe Gries had two aces, including one to end the game.

Berkeley controlled the fourth game, up 23-15 and needing only two points to finish it. But PHU put together an 8-0 run capped by Abby Strong's ace. Berkeley Prep regrouped to score the final two points on a Bridget O'Carroll kill and an Anders Douglas ace.

Palm Harbor University was without sophomore hitter Jessica Angelo, who is out with a left ankle injury.

"We weren't ready to play today and that was my frustration," PHU coach Dexter Rogers said. "It was difficult to watch. We've got some bad habits we need to fix. We can get away with it in some games, but if we want to beat a team like this we can't. We did have some good runs, but we need to be more consistent."

Hampton had 14 kills and 21 digs. Amanda Phegley had 13 kills and Gries had 21 digs.