On Wednesday evening, the Hernando Leopards (18-4) fell to the Mount Dora Hurricanes (14-5) in four sets in the regional quarterfinal round of the state championships at the Leopards Den. The Purple and Gold started the night out hot as they blasted the visitors in set one, but the final three sets would see the Hurricanes turn the tables on the home team. Hernando Head Coach Robin Bailey discussed how this happened after the game.
“They started blocking and hitting,” Coach Bailey said. “I know our blocks weren’t up to where they used to be. For some reason, we weren’t getting it. They had some heck of a hitters.”
It was a surprising flip of the script after the initial frame as Hernando easily bested Mount Dora to the tune of a 25-12 shellacking. Senior Kaiya Ward made play-after-play at the net as she was responsible for 10 points enroute to a 21 kill, 3 block, and 1 ace night. Senior Charity Blevins (4 kills, 2 aces) would score the winning point with an ace.
It would not be enough, as Mount Dora would come out with a purpose in the second period. With the score tied 6-all, 8 of the next 9 points were scored by the visitors. Hernando would claw their way back to a 3-point deficit, but a quartet of Hurricanes put the set away with Senior Sydney Guthrie recording the final two points on a block and kill…