SPC Titan Sports
College Volleyball team optimistic heading to state event
By JIM MOORHEAD
Article published on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006  |
Never has the St. Petersburg College volleyball team been ranked higher and never have the expectations been higher for the team to make its first trip to the national tournament.
SPC (26-7) is ranked No. 7 in the country as play begins in the state tournament today (Nov. 2) at Polk Community College in Winter Haven.
The team opens play in a key match with longtime nemesis, Pasco-Hernando Community College. A win sent SPC into a 1 p.m. game Friday against the winner of the Pensacola CC-Hillsborough CC match, which is scheduled today.
“I would say this is the best team we have ever had here,” Coach Scott White said. The team was sailing right along until it traveled to PHCC and lost in three games.
After the match the team boarded a bus and headed to Miami-Dade College for a tournament that turned out to be the turning point in the season, White said.
“We had a team meeting after the loss and then went out and beat Miami-Dade, which is something we had never done before,” White said. “That victory seemed to earn us respect around the country.”
The championship match will be at 11 a.m. Saturday. If the team out of the losers’ bracket wins the 11 a.m. match in the double-elimination tournament, a second match will follow at 1 p.m.
White said the team tracks five school records and three of them were broken this season. Regiane Silva, who is the Suncoast Conference Player of the Year, has 141 service aces, topping by one her record of last year.
Kelli Johnson, second team all-conference, has 1,093 assists, 94 more than the previous record. Heloisa dos Santos has 249 assists, 49 more than the old mark. She and her sister Adriana were both first-team all-conference selections.
Basketball season begins for both teams
While the volleyball season is winding down, the basketball teams are just getting going.
The women open their home season Saturday at 4 p.m. against Florida Community College at Jacksonville. SPC opened its season Wednesday on the road at Webber University.
The men’s team is at home Friday night in the opener at 7 against Central Florida CC. Sunday afternoon the team returns for a 3 p.m. game with McMaster University of Canada.
Both teams advanced to the state tournament last year. Conference play begins in early January for both teams.
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Article published on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006
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