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Eagles too strong for Bulldogs (photo gallery)
CRESTVIEW — It was during the middle stages of what had developed into a tightly contested set with Crestview that a strange thought crossed the mind of Niceville junior Shelby Russel.
“If we beat them so easy in the first game, why not do it again?” Russel remembered thinking.
Gridlocked at 14-all in the third game of Thursday night’s volleyball season opener at Crestview, Niceville would go on to rattle off 11 of the next 12 points to finish strong in a 25-5, 25-14, 25-15 victory.
Russel led Niceville with a team-high nine kills, just ahead of seniors Kacie Stone and Kristen Koch, each of whom finished with eight kills apiece. The win was the very first for Elizabeth Falls as the new Eagles coach.
“I’m very pleased with the girls,” Falls said.
Falls, a former collegiate player from Ohio, stepped into the program following the retirement of former coach Kris Hagberg. In Falls’ first stint on the Eagles’ bench, Niceville displayed a familiar air of confidence from the opening set.
Back-to-back kills by Russel helped stake Niceville (1-0, 1-0 District 2-5A) to a 7-1 advantage before Crestview coach Ben Kimbrough called for timeout to rally his troops, but it didn’t work. Following the break, Niceville continued to pour it on, going ahead by a 20-5 margin before closing it out on the strength of Russel’s service for a 25-5 win.
Crestview would show more fight in the second set, keeping Niceville within an earshot thanks in large part to a gritty effort by its front line. Hailey Hollinhead would finish with two kills and one block while Alicia Dukes tallied a team-best four kills, none bigger than one coming in the third game that gave the Bulldogs (0-2, 0-2) hope by knotting the score at 14-14.
Just moments prior, it was Dukes converting a great diving dig from Hannah Hamilton that cut the Niceville advantage to 13-12.
But it wouldn’t be enough for the Bulldogs. After the score was tied at 14, Niceville would go on an 8-0 run off the service of Carissa Hagberg that essentially sealed Crestview’s fate.
“We have a young team and they were definitely intimidated in that first set,” Kimbrough said. “In the second (set), we started playing volleyball, it just took too long. This was a learning experience. Niceville is always powerful coming in. We’re a young team but we’ll get there.”
