MIC topples Temple Christian again

BY BRIAN McCALLUM
FLORIDA TODAY

MERRITT ISLAND - Different scores. Same result.

Merritt Island Christian and Temple Christian played girls high school volleyball against each other for the fourth time this season on Tuesday night, and the Cougars won for the fourth time.

This time, the scores were 25-10, 25-9, 25-12, but this time, the winning Cougars (26-2) advanced to the Class 1A regional final of the FHSAA postseason.

The two met in the District 7 title match two weeks ago after two regular-season meetings. Each went three games, but this one had the biggest implications.

MIC will play a regional final at 2 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of the Foundation-Geneva match, also played on Tuesday.

Cougars coach Laurie Haines agreed her team is playing the kind of volleyball it needs to play to continue to advance.

"I think so, if I can keep these kids healthy," she said.

Two starters are out, one with a neck injury and one with a broken foot.

"I have such a deep bench that really I don't have trouble replacing them," Haines said. "We just have to work on chemistry every time there is a change."

Chemistry led to a one-hour dismissal of Temple Christian, which ended its season at 12-12. Helping the chemistry along was some effective serving.

Jenny Stanton served 11 consecutive points in the first game, taking her team from a 2-2 tie to a 13-2 advantage.

"I was just on," she said. "I was praying that I would be confident, because usually I'm not very confident."

She appeared to have plenty of confidence.

Stanton and Stephanie Quinn shared the team high with seven aces. Quinn's serving was key in the second and third games. She had five service points in a row in the final game to get her team within five points of closing out the visitors.

Quinn joined Erica Robes with nine kills and led the team with 14 assists.

"We played with fewer errors than last time," Haines said of the fourth match against the Lions. "We had a lot of hitting and serving errors last time. We've been working a whole lot on serving, because that's all we really needed to do last week (in a quarterfinal win over Sonrise Christian of Lakeland)."

The best news for Temple Christian is that only one player is graduating. Rebekah Maynard led the team with 12 digs and two aces.

Bailey Scott (15) of Merritt Island Christian hits a shot over Stephanie Salazar (5) and teammate Josie Hallum (24) of Temple Christian.
Erica Robes (28) of Merritt Island Christian goes up for the block on the shot of Denae Hackenberg (22) of Temple Christian.
The Merritt Island Christian Cougars get pumped.
Kacie Paulk (13) of Merritt Island Christian hits a shot past Hannah Hodges (10) of Temple Christian.
Crowd cheer on the teams.
Crowd cheer on the teams.
Erica Robes (28) of Merritt Island Christian goes up for the block on the shot of Megan McDowell (3) of Temple Christian.
Erica Robes (28) of Merritt Island Christian goes up for shot on Denae Hackenberg (22) of Temple Christian.
Kacie Paulk (13) of Merritt Island Christian goes up for the block on the shot of Hannah Hodges (10) of Temple Christian
Merritt Island Christian Cougars during the National Anthem before the regional semifinal volleyball with Temple Christian at Merritt Island Christian gym