Rutherford, Bay host district volleyball tournaments

Hosting a district volleyball tournament means more than having homecourt advantage.

It's making sure the concession stand is stocked, the programs are printed and the nets are up by time the first match is played. It's also playing host to a handful of visiting teams.

But when it comes down to it, no matter where the games are played, the teams have to produce and no one knows that better than Rutherford and Bay, which are hosting the District 2-5A and District 2-4A tournaments, respectively next week.

"I wouldn't say we really have any advantages," Rutherford coach Stacy Theus said. "If a team can play, they can play in any gym in front of any crowd."

The Lady Rams are looking up at their bracket from the bottom. They're the No. 5 seed with an 0-8 district record, but they still believe they can make some waves against three Tallahassee foes and Mosley.

"We still have things to work on," Theus said. "We need to really work on covering. We get caught so many times leaving areas open and we must learn to make the proper adjustments. We must also work on serving. We have got to be consistent."

They will start the tournament against Bay County rival and fourth-seed Mosley (3-5), Monday at 6 p.m. The winner will play top-seed Leon (8-0) in the semifinals Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Rutherford. No. 2 Lincoln (5-3) and No. 3 Chiles (4-4) will play in Tallahassee Tuesday night in the other semifinal.

The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 30 at Rutherford, unless both teams are from Tallahassee, which in that case the higher seed will host.

At Bay, first-year coach Kyle Peck is learning how to juggle his coaching duties along with being a host. But like his team needs to, Peck has remained focused on the task at hand.

"We've gotten a little distracted during the season," Peck said. "I've tried to rein them in a little bit, play within ourselves, realize who we are and not try to do things that aren't a part of what we do."

The race for District 2-4A is separated by clear-cut superiority. Bay earned the fourth seed with a 5-5 district record, and shares that mark with No. 3 Godby.
The top two seeds, No. 1 Wakulla and No. 2 Arnold are 9-1 in district play, seeds determined by a coin toss.

East Gadsden is No. 5 with a 3-8 record and Tallahassee Rickards is the sixth seed with an 0-10 mark.

Bay will start its run to a district title Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. against East Gadsden in the quarterfinals. Rickards and Godby play in the other quarterfinal, to be played Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the John L. Cobb Gymnasium.

The winner of Bay-East Gadsden will play Wakulla in the first semifinal on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. That game will be preceded by Arnold against the winner of Rickards-Godby at 5:30 p.m.

The title match will be at 6 p.m. on Oct. 31.

Arnold has been playing well of late, and may be the favorite to win the district title. The Lady Marlins come in at 19-5 overall and have won eight of their last nine matches.

Bay's six seniors know this could be their last time on the court.

"I know during the last week or so of practice they've been talking about, ‘This is our last time here, this is our last time there,'" Peck said. "We're coming down to it."

• District 2-3A
  Host: Holmes County
  Semifinals: Holmes County-Chipley, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
  Championship: Winner plays Marianna, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.
• District 2-2A
  Monday
  Cottondale - host
  Alta
  Blountstown
  Bozeman
  Sneads