FORT WALTON BEACH – Crestview had no issue piling up the set points against rival Niceville in Tuesday’s District 1-7A semifinal. Converting them was another story.
The first three were met by Niceville kills. It wasn’t until the fifth, a connection between Marisa Rogers and Cailey Ness, that the Bulldogs were able to convert.
By that point they trailed 0-2. The damage was done.
Despite 16 kills from Kierra Potts, a combined 36 assists from Molly Kitchen (19) and Rogers (17) and 23 digs from Macie Adams, the third-seeded Bulldogs saw their season end in a 25-27, 26-28, 25-20, 18-25 loss to the second-seeded Eagles at Fort Walton Beach High gym.
The Niceville victory closed the book on the most competitive the rivalry’s looked in the past decade.
Crestview and Niceville split during the regular season, each winning at home.
The latest featured a five-set thriller at the dog pound, which proceeded Niceville’s loss at Fort Walton Beach.
Yet after a tough week, the Eagles found solace in a come-from-behind five-set win over rival Mosley. What followed in the win over the Dolphins was Sami Mims, Tessa Morken, Erin Batcho and Anna Grace Sullivan guaranteeing a win.
They were true to their word. And now Niceville is in the playoffs for the 15th straight year.
Meanwhile Crestview will sit out the playoffs, looking back at the opportunities squandered.
The Bulldogs had two set points in the first set, one in the second. All three times they couldn’t close.
Riding seven kills from Potts and seven assists from Kitchen, the Bulldogs led 24-23 and 25-24 in the opening set. But McMenimen found Stephanie Kaufman to fight off the first set point, Mims powered home a kill to quash the second and Batcho later connected up the middle for the 27-25 win.
In the second set, Crestview fought off set point and led 26-25. But McMenimen connected with Batcho and then Kaufman to set up set point and a Crestview error ended the set.
Against a perennial power like Niceville, there proved no room for mistakes.
Crestview answered with a gutsy third-set win. Ness, Potts, Christa Johnson and Kitchen traded off kills and Rogers and Kitchen dished out assists effortlessly. Niceville had no answer. Yet the momentum was short-lived as Young and Kaufman dominated the net in the fourth set with four kills each in the deciding set en route to a 25-18 win.
Defensively, embodying Niceville’s expansive coverage was one individual.
As with the case in defensive gems, the star was libero Morken. The senior ranged to her left and right, lunged for digs beyond her reach and led the back row with authority. The senior ended the night with 27 digs, followed by McMenimen with 14 and Shelby Young with 10.
The majority of Morken’s digs found McMenimen, who had 45 assists on the night and set up four 10-plus kill efforts from her hitters. Sixteen of her assists went to kill-leader Mims, 14 to Kaufman, 11 to Young and 10 to Erin Batcho. Even McMenimen got in on the action with five kills.
For the Bulldogs, who end the season 16-10, Potts shined with six blocks, Kitchen added 10 digs and Johnson and Ness each pounded out eight kills.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs fall to Niceville in district tournament