BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Lake Butler Middle School’s A team rallied from a 23-18 second-set deficit to avoid being swept and eventually earn a 2-1 (20-25, 25-23, 15-13) win over visiting Keystone Heights in a Sept. 30 volleyball match.
It was a double-header sweep for the Tigers, whose B team defeated Keystone 2-1 (12-25, 25-14, 15-11).
The Tigers got off to a quick start in the A-team match, scoring the first six points with Sabella Reddish serving. Reddish had two aces during that span.
Grace Keaton and Savannah Rathjen had kills as the Indians gradually narrowed their deficit. A 4-0 run with Grace Gilmore serving gave Keystone a 15-14 lead.
A Keaton kill later forced side-out and gave the serve to Rathjen with the score tied at 16-16. Keaton added another kill during a 3-0 span that put the Indians up 19-16.
The Tigers got a Latoya Hampton kill off a Reddish assist, which left them trailing 20-18. Susan McLeod then had an ace for Lake Butler before Keystone’s Emery Compton forced side-out with a kill.
Keystone got a kill from Compton and aces from Keaton and Raven Bastin in scoring the five of the first set’s final six points.
The second set was tied at 13-13 when the Indians scored three points with Rathjen serving. An Alexis VanNordstrand ace and a Gilmore kill off a Rathjen assist later helped Keystone take a 21-15 lead.
Lake Butler’s Emma Lane had a tip that forced side-out, setting up teammate Hampton to serve. The Tigers had committed three straight service errors, but they scored the final seven points with Hampton serving for the come-from-behind win. Hampton recorded several aces, while the winning point came on a tip by Lane.
Keystone went up 6-2 in the tie-breaker set, scoring five points with Rathjen serving.
The Tigers trailed 8-7 before getting two points with Hampton serving. One point was off a Lane kill.
Lane later added another kill to end a long volley and set up the serve for teammate Aaliyah Jackson with Lake Butler leading 10-9. The Tigers scored two straight points.
Lake Butler was one point away from the match win when Keystone scored a point off an ace to make the score 14-13. The Indians then committed a service error, giving the Tigers the win.
The first set of the B-team match saw Keystone score six points with Brinlee Letourneau serving to put the Indians up 7-3. Letourneau had four aces during that span.
Brooke Brinson later had two aces to help Keystone build a 16-4 lead.
Lily Asa made a play for the Indians’ set-winning point.
Lake Butler trailed 3-1 in the second set before scoring eight points with Kinley Phillips serving. The run included an ace and a kill by Elenora Boccanelli.
A 7-0 run with Lea Elixson serving put the Tigers up 18-6.
The Tigers led 24-14 before scoring the set-winning point off a Keystone service error.
Keystone scored three points with Adalyn Gentry serving to take a 6-2 lead in the tie-breaker set. Another two points with Letourneau serving made it a 9-3 game in favor of the Indians.
The Indians scored their final point off an ace by Brinson, which gave Keystone an 11-4 lead. A free ball hit by the Tigers’ Gracelyn McGee found a hole in the Indians’ defense, forcing side-out.
With Emily Hunt serving, the Tigers scored the final 10 points of the match. Hunt had four aces in helping Lake Butler earn the win.
