District 2-4A: Wakulla beats Arnold in sloppy title game

PANAMA CITY - At times it appeared as if Arnold and Wakulla were playing the first volleyball match of the season.

The Marlins looked out of sorts early and late, and the War Eagles were sluggish throughout their District 2-4A volleyball tournament championship match at the John L. Cobb Gymnasium on Friday. But it was the War Eagles that took advantage of a late mistake to pull out a 12-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-17, 15-13 victory.

The win gives Wakulla (17-5) a home match against Gulf Breeze on Tuesday, while the Marlins (20-7) must travel to Pensacola to face Washington in the Region 1-4A quarterfinal.

The teams traded the lead six times in the deciding game. Arnold held 6-5 and 11-10 leads on aces by Katie Steelman and Haley Lanier, whose fourth serve during the rally went out of bounds to tie the game 11-11.

Wakulla went ahead 13-12 on one of Kristin Mathers' 15 kills, but Steelman, who had 13 kills and seven digs, emphatically spiked the ball to tie the game 13-13. However, Maggie Johnson's ensuing serve sailed into the net and the Marlins couldn't return the ball on Kara Smith's service to end the match.

"It came down to defense and serves," Arnold coach Karisa Wesley said. "We had a lot of mistakes there."
Wakulla nearly stole momentum in Game 3, coming back from an 18-12 deficit to tie the stanza 22-22 on a Sarah Roberts ace. Arnold responded with three straight points, the final two on a block and kill by Steelman.

Wesley said the rally was crucial in helping extend the match to five games, but she would have liked the Marlins to hold serve better in allowing Wakulla took Game 4.
Wakulla coach Erica Bunch said the first game, which saw the Marlins down 4-0 only to win, and the third game were prime examples of how the War Eagles made strides, but hurt themselves with their own share of mistakes.

"It was terrible, but we still beat them," Bunch said. "We played probably about up to 40 percent of what we're capable of. This shows that they can push through anything."

Bunch noted how nearly every player made mistakes. Early hitting opportunities for Mathers were either errantly hit or out. It wasn't until the final game that almost every attempt she made was a guaranteed score.

The loss was disappointing for Arnold, but Wesley believes the Marlins match up well with Washington (20-4).

"I think both Washington and Gulf Breeze are pretty comparable to us and Wakulla," Wesley said.

Haley Lanier led Arnold with 15 kills, five digs and four aces. Kristen Miller added 29 assists, four digs and three kills.

Roberts had six digs and Summer Stokley five kills for Wakulla.