Venice sweeps Mooney

SARASOTA - First and foremost, the Venice High volleyball team looks to establish the middle in an effort to open the offensive possibilities.  With Cardinal Mooney countering with a single block, the Indians had success in the middle.

When they find something going well, they stick with it.

With Jillian Allen and Morgan Shattuck pounding away in the middle and Autumn Duyn getting swings from the outside, Venice handed Cardinal Mooney its first loss of the season 25-12, 25-17, 25-7 in 56 minutes Wednesday at the Cougars gym.

"We always seem to test teams and see what they are going to do with a block," Indians coach Brian Wheatley said. "If they put a single block, we are going to keep running that."

More often than not, when setting the middle, senior Taylor Capasso went with the quick set, placing the ball just above the net for Allen and Shattuck to pound.

"I love it," said Allen, who finished with eight kills. "You just have to always have to have your arm up and be ready when the setter sets you. It's just real fast."

Shattuck was second with seven kills in 10 attempts to go along with three blocks and an ace.

Duyn did most of her damage from the outside, getting nine kills. On occasion, she would follow the middle to convert one of Capasso's 28 assists.

"Their offense was very fast, and we weren't prepared for it," Cougars coach Aiko Averill said.

The Cougars (5-1) also had difficulty returned a serve.

Coming off a good serving practice earlier Wednesday, Venice (7-1) notched 18 aces, nine in the first game. Duyn had seven, including the final two points of the night. Libero Dorothy Rahal had six aces to go along with 11 digs.

"They are a tough serving team," said Averill, who received four kills each from Genny Casagrande and Annie Montgomery. "We knew that coming in."

Emily Daniels led with 16 digs, along with three kills.

"It was a lot of motivation," Allen said. "We wanted to give them their first loss. We were ready to play them.

"We've been really working hard in practice. We've been meshing well. We're trying to take it to the next level."

Saint Stephen's rolls past Shorecrest Prep

BRADENTON -- Saint Stephen's cruised to a 25-16, 25-10, 25-14 district victory over visiting St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep.

Top players for the Falcons included: Alyssa Allen (seven kills, five aces, four blocks), Maggie Holbert (27 assists, five aces) and Morgan Johnson (eight kills, seven digs, three aces).

Saint Stephen's (4-2, 2-1) will compete in the eight-team Manatee County tournament, which starts Friday at Manatee High.

The Falcons will compete in Pool B along with Southeast, Bayshore and Braden River. Pool A will consist of teams from Manatee, Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton Christian and Palmetto.

Saturday's games begin at 8 a.m. and the championship match is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Admission is $5.

Riverview spikes Manatee for 2nd win

BRADENTON -- Riverview High swept past host Manatee High 25-21, 25-15, 25-23 to pick up its second win of the year.

Bree Scarbrough (eight kills, seven blocks), Chelsea Gobourne (five blocks, three kills) and Jayma Copeland (five kills, three kills, two aces) led the Lady Rams.

Riverview (2-7) opens its district season at Sarasota on Tuesday.