FREEPORT — Ashley Black and Taylor Brunson don't care that they and their Baker volleyball teammates, at one point this season, had won 20 of 21 sets.
They have tunnel vision on the end result of each match — and especially Tuesday's meeting with Freeport.
It's a match Baker players highlight on the schedule, because Tuesday's 25-20, 25-15, 23-25, 25-13 win against Freeport and its lively home crowd is the measuring stick affirming Baker is still the team to beat in District 3-1A.
"On the calendar we plan, 'Win at Freeport,'" said Brunson, who led all players with 26 assists. "I think they're the toughest team in our district."
Baker (7-0, 4-0), trying for a 12th straight district championship and a state title after last year's runners-up ending, entered the match against Freeport (7-2, 3-1) with sweeps in all of its first six contests except a four-set win against district foe Jay. While winning 18 of 19 sets isn't the first thing Baker coach Tommiko Parks looks at, it's a telling statistic of her team's refusal to lose its edge.
"It means we're focused for the most part and we stay focused throughout the match," she said.
The Gators appeared headed to another straight-set win when Brittany Brunson's ace ended the second set and put Freeport, the team Baker defeated in last year’s district championship match, in a must-win spot.
"We couldn't get anything going," Freeport coach Tina Knight said, "and that was the problem."
At least until the third set.
Freeport used the momentum swing of a lengthy rally, breaking a 13-13 tie with one of Mary Kate Myrick's 10 kills, and a rejuvenated crowd as Mady Jones' kill and ace in the final two points gave the Bulldogs the set. Laura Ham led Freeport with 14 digs, Devany Beard had four blocks and Jones added 11 assists and four aces.
"I think the fans were getting in our girls' heads and one mistake led to another," said Black, who ended with seven kills and six aces.
Baker quieted the crowd in the final set — something Black said the Gators specifically set out to do — with six straight points, including three straight aces from Taylor Brunson, and a 17-9 lead that was never in doubt the rest of the match.
Kelsey McGraw had 12 kills, but libero Lena Daoud's match-high 30 digs impressed Parks the most and was evidence her team shined defensively against Freeport's attacking mentality.
"When you play teams like Freeport," she said, "it's important to be in spots we need to be in to keep the ball off the floor."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gators take key win from Freeport