Venice overcomes slight scare

VENICE - The Venice High volleyball team threatened to send St. Petersburg Northside Christian, a formidable foe, over the Sunshine Skyway licking its wounds.  The Indians surrendered the lead only once in the first two games and looked to terminate another opponent in less than an hour.  A not-so-funny thing happened in Game 3.

The Mustangs were not looking to get home in time to watch "Two and a Half Men."

With the help of a scoring error, Northside Christian took a 14-6 lead, and Venice coach Brian Wheatley took a timeout.

After that, the Indians ran off 18 of the final 22 points to complete a 25-10, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of last year's Class 2A region finalist Monday at Venice.

"It was a great comeback in game three, wasn't it?" Wheatley said. "We kicked it into gear."

The Indians (8-1) finished with 18 aces, including three straight by libero Dorothy Rahal to close the match. Rahal finished with six, as did Autumn Duyn.

Venice did so much more than serve well.

Duyn powered 14 kills. Jillian Allen added eight. Even setter Taylor Capasso found the floor three times.

"We did two things really well: We served them off the court, and our net play was outstanding," Wheatley said.

Before he's ready to put all his chips into the center of the table, Wheatley wants to see the same effort over and over and over.

"I don't want anyone to come in and buy into the corporation just yet," he said. "What you do over and over is who you are. Our stock is rising. We have to continue to prove it.

"Wall Street is not stabilized just yet. We want to be able to know by the end of the season we're buying into a good corporation that is consistent. Anytime you buy a stock, you want to know what you're getting."

The Indians 2005 team that won the state title displayed the consistency Wheatley strives for on a night-to-night basis.

St. Pete Canterbury spikes Out-of-Door

SARASOTA -- St. Pete Canterbury beat host Out-of-Door Academy 13-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-21. Rachel Cannon (six kills), Jonna Marchese (six kills) and Colleen McGraph (five aces) played well for the Thunder (4-2), who play at St. Pete Northside Christian today.