TriCounty News

Former Lemon Bay High School volleyball standout Becca Toor has had quite an active offseason at Winthrop University in South Carolina. The 2007 Sun area player of the year joined her Winthrop teammates in a tour of Italy during the spring break. The Eagles played three matches, including one against a professional team, and also took in the sights and sounds of the country.

"We got a chance to see Italy's culture and play some volleyball," Toor, a starting middle blocker for Winthrop, said.  "The culture is really different and there was the language barrier. And the food is amazing." Toor was impressed with the level of play in Italy. "There's a lot of intensity," she said. "There are a lot of professional teams playing there. "There are some differences and some similarities between Italian volleyball and American volleyball."

Toor also is helping with some summer conditioning at Lemon Bay, and also coaches in the Sarasota-Riverview summer league. The Manta Rays are sending 18 players to the Gator Camp July 20-26 at the University of Florida. Last season as a freshman at Winthrop, Toor led the Big South Conference in blocks per match with a 1.26 average per contest. She also averaged better than one kill a match.

The team finished with an 11-20 record and had a rebuilding season. "We had a young team last season," she said. "We started out well but we were hurt when we lost a starting outsider hitter. I think we'll do better this coming season." Winthrop has developed a winning tradition over the past decade. The Eagles have won four Big South championships since 2002.

At Lemon Bay, Toor helped the Manta Rays capture three district championships in four seasons, one regional championship and a State 4A second-place finish in 2007. She also made the All-State first team as a senior. As a junior in 2006, Toor and the Manta Rays won the district championship and made it to the regional finals before they were edged by host Naples. Lemon Bay avenged that loss in 2007 with a victory over the Golden Eagles in the regional semifinals, and then defeated DeSoto in the regional championship match. Now, Toor is preparing for the 2009 season. "We'll begin practice Aug. 9," Toor said. "Then, we'll get ready for the season."

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