LSCC set for states
Will face No. 2 Miami-Dade

Adam Minichino
Sports Editor

It has been more than 20 years since Lisa Huntley played volleyball at Miami-Dade College.

The game has changed since the late 1970s, but Miami-Dade remains one of the nation's premier programs.

Today, Huntley's Lake-Sumter Community College Lakers will take on No. 2 nationally ranked Miami-Dade College at noon in the first round of the Florida Community College Activities Association and National Junior College Athletic Association District G Tournament at Polk C.C.

LSCC (6-22) is making its first appearance in the tournament since 2004.

The winner of today's match plays at 3 p.m. Friday. The loser plays at 1 p.m. Friday.

"I am excited about playing my alma mater," said Huntley, who graduated from Miami-Dade College and went on to earn varsity letters in volleyball at the University of Tennessee in 1980 and 1981.

In 1987, Huntley was invited to the United States Olympic tryouts. She also played internationally from 1986-87.

Since 1991, Huntley has been involved with volleyball as a coach. She has coached at the Division I level at the University of Southern Mississippi and Louisiana Tech University.

Before she arrived at LSCC, she spent the past five seasons at Cedar Valley College in Lancaster, Texas.

LSCC earned the trip to Polk C.C. by defeating Saint Johns River C.C. twice in the regular season. The Lakers lost the next meeting at a tournament but defeated SJRCC last weekend and played South Florida C.C. to a five-game loss at the Hillborough C.C. tournament to enter the state tournament on a high note.

SFCC swept LSCC in three games earlier in the season.

Huntley knows today's match will be a challenge, but she likes how the Lakers are playing.

"We have been talking to the girls and telling them that at any given moment a team can be beaten," Huntley said. "We are going to play and compete with them and, hopefully, we'll come out a winner."

The Lakers also hope to receive a lift from the fact that six players recently earned All-Mid Florida Conference honors.

Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brady and freshman libero (designated defensive specialist) Lauren Cline were named to the first team, sophomore outside hitter Rachel Bowen was picked to the second team and freshmen Kalee Prevatt, Nicci Lucas and Valerie Morales received honorable mention recognition.

Neither Brady nor Cline expected to be named first-team all-conference, but both players have played integral roles in the team's success.

Brady missed the first month of the season after having surgery on her left foot. She returned at the right time to help the Lakers defeat SJRCC and set them on the road to the state tournament.

"When Jessica came back she definitely had an impact on our team," Huntley said. "I think she also helped the team in that she is more of a leader and that she played at a high level and was able to elevate the level of the other players. She has the power game, the finesse game and plays very smart."

Brady, a Leesburg High School graduate, said Cline sent her a text message in class earlier this week informing her of the all-conference selections. She figured the number of matches she missed in August and September would have prevented her from earning all-conference recognition.

As for today's match, Brady said she has wanted to play against Miami-Dade College since she was 14 years old. At that age, she served at an official for former LSCC volleyball coach Steve Bishop's tournament in Leesburg. She said she also saw Miami-Dade College play when she was 16.

"We as a team are approaching it that we'll compete the best we can," Brady said. "Obviously we are outmatched, but we're going out with a good attitude and we're not going to back down. I look at it as a good way to measure ourselves. There is nothing we can lose and we have everything to gain from it."

Cline split much of the season at libero with Courtney Beeler. Huntley said Cline has been earning more of the playing time at the position because she has improved from the start of the season in August.

"In the past two or three matches she has had 30-dig efforts, which is up for national recognition," Huntley said. "She is helping us with our passing, and when our digging is on we're able to compete with anyone."

Huntley said Cline has developed greater consistency and has shown a better knack for reading the hitters.

That first pass has helped the Lakers transition into their offense and has allowed setters Alex Logsdon and Morales to get more hitters involved in the attack.

"(Tuesday and Wednesday) coach Huntley was teaching me how to read the hitter and to see where the hole is and how to transition toward the ball," said Cline, an Orlando Bishop Moore graduate. "She has taught me how to read where the hitter is facing, how to cut off the angle and how to see where the hitter's shoulder is."

Brady agrees Cline has improved significantly from the beginning of the season.

"When she gets in the zone of playing she is pretty much unstoppable," Brady said. "She gets to pretty much every ball and has improved so much as a freshman. She's a competitor, and when the game is tight she wants to play and wants to be there."

Cline admits Miami-Dade is more experienced than LSCC, but she said she is excited about the challenge of playing such a strong team.

"Win or lose it will be a learning experience," Cline said. "Just the experience of playing a good team like that teaches you for personal experience."