Mustangs dominate Tigers at net

LAKEWOOD RANCH — On a night when Lakewood Ranch seniors were being honored, the Mustangs displayed a dominance at the net.

There’s no better time to control the twine than in a district contest against a crosstown foe.

On Tuesday in a Class 4A-District 10 match, the Mustangs swept past the Palmetto Tigers 29-27, 25-14, 25-13.

“They were being very aggressive (Tuesday),” Lakewood Ranch coach Stacey Goodale said of her players. “They had a lot of good blocks up there, and they had a lot of nice down balls. Fortunately, it was all working for us.”

In the first game, the teams were locked in a see-saw battle until Lakewood Ranch’s Mariah Robertson salted the game away with two consecutive aces.

The match was never close after that.

Robertson, Corey Hanewich and Loni Shamble took over at the net.

Robertson, an outside hitter, had 14 kills, and Shambles, a middle blocker, put down five kills and six blocks. Hanewich, a middle blocker, had 16 kills, four blocks and four aces.

“This was a big confidence booster for us,” Hanewich said. “We’ve been struggling and losing a lot, and it just helped us gain confidence in our ability and working as a team.”

Palmetto coach Dana Whitaker said part of the Tigers’ problem is that they are still trying to play as a cohesive unit.

After the Mustangs won the opening game, the Tigers appeared to fall apart.

Midway through the second game, the Tigers cut their deficit to three points (11-8), but Lakewood Ranch won four of the next five points to pull away.

Jannah McKinnis led the Tigers (1-7, 1-5) with four kills and 12 digs, and Lawanna Peterson chipped in with four blocks and three kills.

“It’s baby steps with this team,” Whitaker said. “They just need to learn to work together. They are a good team. It seems like when they have a down spout it’s hard to bring themselves up. That’s something we have to build on.”

The Mustangs’ have a building block in place.

“We have some big blockers and some big hitters,” Hanewich said. “And we have pretty good passers, and when we string that stuff together we are pretty dangerous, but we have to work on bringing it together.”