SARASOTA — The Saint Stephen’s volleyball team huddled in front of their bench before the second game of Thursday’s district tournament final when coach Nancy Cothron walked into the circle and said, “Bagels”
Bagels?
“We like to have fun,” Cothron said.
The Falcons did that against St. Petersburg Northside Christian in the Class 2A-District 11 tournament at the Out-of-Door Academy. They didn’t win, but they had fun.
Top-seeded Northside Christian won their third straight district title with a 3-1 victory, bouncing back from a 23-25 loss in the first game to sweep the next three, 25-13, 25-23, 25-18.
“That’s the best we ever played against them,” senior setter Maggie Holbert said. “We really wanted to beat them. We never beat them before, and that’s what drove us. We decided no matter what the score, we were going talk, play hard and have fun. When we’re stressed out, we don’t play well.”
Cothron promised her team bagels this morning if they took one game off the Mustangs.
“If we won two, (assistant coach) Jamie Moore was going to have his toenails painted by the seniors,” Cothron said.
“We almost did it,” Holbert said.
Holbert led the Falcons with 40 assists. Melissa Johnson had 13 kills. Alyssa Allen had 12.
Morgan Johnson had 14 service points and seven kills. Lauren Johnson had six kills.
“To even get one game off them was really excellent,” Cothron said.
The Falcons (20-5) head to Fort Myers on Wednesday for the 2A-Region 3 quarterfinal against Canterbury.
Moore will make the trip with a full head of hair. If the Falcons won the district title, he promised to shave his head.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@