Sharks advance to state quarterfinals

Published May 8th, 2008

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

The quest for a third consecutive state volleyball championship is still alive for Spanish River.

The Sharks outlasted a game Douglas team 25-21, 27-29, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11 Tuesday night at home to advance to the state quarterfinals Friday.

Spanish River (25-3) will play Cardinal Gibbons (27-1), a four-game winner over Archbishop McCarthy, at 7 p.m. at Douglas High.

“It actually seemed never-ending,” Sharks outside hitter Ian Lyngse said.

“After we lost the first game I was hoping to mend it in the fourth game. That didn’t happen, but it seemed like a long game to me.”

Lyngse had 12 kills for the Sharks, and he stepped up at the biggest time in the match, with two kills and two blocks in the final game, including the game-winning block that bounded away from two Douglas players and started the Sharks’ celebration.

“What I tried to do was just play stronger, come out with a little more intensity,” Lyngse said.

In what became a pattern for the match, Spanish River broke out to an early lead, only to have the Eagles (22-7) rally back behind their 6-foot-9 middle hitter Shane Welch, and 6-foot-3 outside hitter Charlie Brown.

Brown finished with a game-high 31 kills, 35 digs, six blocks, nine service points and an ace.

“This whole group has never had this kind of pressure before, and Douglas played great, they really did,” Sharks coach Lori Eaton said.

“Their middle (Welch) and their outside player (Brown) were outstanding.

They were really hard to stop. So it was a good battle.”

After losing the marathon second game, Eaton said the Sharks adjusted their blocking pattern, delaying it because of the big wind-up from Welch in the middle.

“We hesitated, then we got the hand on the ball,” Eaton said.

Part of the reason Eaton thought the players weren’t able to keep up the early intensity is the fact so many of them played club volleyball and were friends with members of the Douglas team.

“It was kind of a personal thing and sometimes I think they let that get in the way,” she said.

Dennis Rogenmoser led the Sharks with 13 kills and 50 digs, James Stampnick added 43 assists and Bruno Siqueira contributed 32 digs.