District 2-4A: Bay advances to Thursday's semifinal

PANAMA CITY - The first round of playoffs is not supposed to be all that challenging.

Tuesday night at the John L. Cobb Gymnasium, Bay made it look even easier with a 25-6, 25-13, 25-16 win over East Gadsden in the quarterfinals of the District 2-4A girls volleyball tournament.

"I was just hoping we would play like we know we can play," Bay coach Kyle Peck said.

Game 1 was decided by just five Bay servers. Suzie Turnage led off, helping the Tornadoes to a 6-1 lead.

Ahead 11-4, Bay then ran off seven consecutive points off the hand of Julie Penewitt, including one ace. The Jaguars managed to get two points, one on an unforced error by Bay and then Lindsey Morrow finished the game with seven straight points including two aces.
The last two games started a little tighter.

East Gadsden tied Game 2 at 2-2 before Bay scored the next seven points. The Jaguars managed a point or two here and there for the rest of the game, but a dink by Penewitt made it 14-7. East Gadsden's Tawanna Charlton record an ace and the Jaguars came within five points. Then Bay put together another string of five straight points and cruised.

At least 21 points won by Bay in the first two games were earned on East Gadsden unforced errors.

"I want to say it was because of us, but I'm not so sure that's exactly true," Peck said. "We wanted to put the ball over the net, if so, that's good for us."

Bay once again let up in the third game when ahead 2-0. East Gadsden took its first lead of the match when it went ahead 5-2, which eventually turned into advantages of 7-5 and 9-7. The Tornadoes' comeback started when Kristian Robertson scored at the net. Penewitt then served Bay into the lead and it never trailed again.

"I think we lost focus a little but," Peck said.
Peck brought up freshman Jaime Bell and was able to get her significant playing time, which he thought could be crucial to Bay's success later in the playoffs.

Next for the Tornadoes is Wakulla, Thursday at 7 p.m. at Bay, following No. 2 Arnold's game against the winner of Rickards-Godby. A win in the semifinals and Bay would play for the championship.

"I think we have to improve on our communication," Peck said. "We need to call it louder."