CRESTVIEW — There is still some work to do for Crestview High School’s volleyball team heading into the District 2-6A tournament later this month.
The Bulldogs have been very successful outside the district boasting a 15-2 record. In the district is a different story.
The Bulldogs went into Thursday night’s district match with Fort Walton Beach seeking that first district win.
The Vikings were looking to lock up the number one seed in the upcoming district tournament. And with that top seed, an automatic bid to the state playoffs out of the three-team district.
If Thursday’s contest was any indication the district tournament should be exciting.
It took the Vikings five sets to subdue a gritty Bulldog squad, but Fort Walton Beach clinched the top seed with a 3-2 win by scores of 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 24-26, 15-13.
Bulldog Coach Kathy Combest tried to take the loss in stride as she looked at the big picture.
“We just have to keep playing (hard) and hope we have a peak (in the district tournament),” she said. “There’s no pressure on us it’s on them (Fort Walton Beach and Choctaw) they are the one and two seeds.”
Viking Coach Gigi Vardai said the match hinged on one simple thing.
“They (the Bulldogs) started playing better in the third and fourth games – in the fifth game also,” he said. “I didn’t even know the score was that close. At any level it’s a serve and receive battle.
“We won the serve and receive battle in the first and second games and then we got sloppy and went away from our good habits. That’s a big victory for us.”
Zadie Engelberger led the Viking attack with 17 kills, 7 digs and a pair of aces. Sidney Lavin was an assist machine dishing out 38 passes that turned into Viking scores. Lavin also had seven digs.
Kara Fisher had 13 kills and eight blocks. Zoey Quituga had 18 digs.
The Vikings (15-2, 3-1) looked poised to put the match away quickly after taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs looked to get off to a quick start and took a 3-0 lead in the first set.
Crestview was up 7-4 after a Christa Johnson kill. It was downhill for the Bulldogs after that.
Fort Walton Beach went on an 8-2 run to take control of the set.
Lavin was in serve for the Vikings as they opened an 8-0 lead to start the second set. Engelberger had a couple of big kills to aid the run and Savannah Bailey was a force at the net as well.
The Bulldogs wouldn’t go away behind the strong play of Kierra Potts, Cailey Ness and Marisa Rogers, but early deficit was too much for Crestview to overcome.
Rogers, Potts and Johnson continued to play well in the third and fourth sets. Freshman Riley Edwards showed she will be a force at the net in the years to come too.
Back-to-back kills by Edwards in the fifth set gave Crestview a 5-2 lead. The Bulldogs led 6-2 when the Vikings came back behind the strong play of Fisher and Engelberger at the net. Engelberger ended the match with an ace.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's comeback attempt falls short (PHOTOS)