Breakthrough performance

The points kept mounting, the deficit kept growing and no one could blame the Nature Coast Lady Sharks if they started thinking "here we go again."

They were staring at not only a 7-0 hole out of the gate in the first game of Wednesday night's Class 4A, Region II quarterfinal versus visiting Ridgewood, but five years of failure in this very playoff round.

"I was that close to a timeout," Nature Coast Head Coach Dan Murphy said. "I have that much confidence in my team. This team does not give up."

No, it did not. Where their predecessors had come up short, this version of the Lady Sharks stepped up, battling back to sweep the Lady Rams, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19.

That marked the first regional victory in the sixth straight state playoff appearance for the 7-year-old program.

"It wasn't an easy breakthrough," Murphy said. "We tried our darnedest to make it tough. Ridgewood stepped up their game tonight."

After the Lady Rams (19-9) burst out to the early advantage, they had only one point off their own serve the remainder of the game.

A Courtney Liddle kill brought the Lady Sharks (21-8) all the way back and put them up 18-17, and was the first of seven straight points including three aces served by Alex Livengood.

Liddle had seven kills in the game, one of them for game point, and Livengood added six. Nature Coast's two superstar hitters tallied 21 and 18 kills respectively.

The Lady Sharks will travel to Hudson to play in Tuesday's semifinals, facing the team that beat them for the district championship in 2008. The Lady Cobras were switched to a new district this year.

"I'm so happy that we finally got to this point," said Livengood, a senior and veteran of three previous regional losses. "I think if we play hard enough we'll give Hudson a run for their money."

Slow starts

On this night, Nature Coast made a habit of overcoming sluggish starts, exploding as various points in each game to open things up.

In the second game the Lady Sharks' libero Alex Coscia served six consecutive markers with four aces to make it 21-15.

They finally got out in front quickly in the third, but didn't take a comfortable edge until Lauren Powell's turn at serve produced six points and a 16-6 score.

Senior setter Rachel Powell produced the point that Nature Coast had waited so many years for, landing a two-handed kill over the net to end the match.

Sarangelys Cruz posted nine kills to pace Ridgewood, a team that was also seeking its first regional triumph.

"They're a tough team," Ridgewood Head Coach Amber Starkey said. "Every aspect of their game is tough. We weren't able to answer it."

Though the Lady Sharks made history by taking this match, they didn't celebrate as much as look toward the next round.

Murphy has said all season he felt he had a club capable of reaching the state semifinals, and Nature Coast now stands two wins away from doing so.

"We can't stop here," Murphy said. "Whatever team it is, we've got to be ready for them."

NATURE COAST 3, RIDGEWOOD 0
1 2 3
RW 18 18 19
NCT 25 25 25
Records: Ridgewood (19-9), Nature Coast (21-8).