Baker volleyball gets revenge; advances to semis
By RANDY DICKSON
randyd@nwfdailynews.com
BAKER — Call it what you will, revenge, redemption — or on Halloween night, an exorcism.
Whatever it was, it sure felt good to the Baker volleyball team that waited a year to avenge a loss to Blountstown in last year’s 2A regional semifinals.
The Gators made short work of the Tigers, winning by scores of 25-22, 25-15, and 25-22 on Wednesday.
Baker will host Sneads on Tuesday in the regional semifinals. Sneads beat Pensacola Christian 3-0.
“I’m really happy,” senior Apryl Crawford said. “We wanted to beat them since they beat us last year.
“We just had to stay together and not get down when things are tough.”
Baker coach Kathy Combest downplayed the talk of an exorcism, but was happy to describe the win another way.
“I feel like we redeemed ourselves,” she said. “We don’t feel like we played our best when we lost to them over there last year.
“We talked about how it felt last year knowing we didn’t play our best, and when we found out we were going to play Blountstown we talked about it a lot.”
Even the sweep didn’t come easy for Baker (24-3).
The Tigers (17-8) led early in the first game and kept the pressure on the Gators once Baker moved in front. The game see-sawed back and forth with Blountstown holding a 21-19 lead before the Gators could pull away.
Big serves from Crawford and Kaylee Bradley kept the Tigers on their heels and in a defensive posture. Fittingly, the first game ended on one of Crawford’s six aces in the match.
“When I get to the service line I just hear coach Combest say, ‘Stay focused,’ ” Bradley said. “After that it’s easy.”
Late in the first game the Gator players began to pick apart the Blountstown defense. Led by Chelsea Combest, Baker constantly attacked the Tigers to pick up big points in crucial situations.
Chelsea Combest stayed in attack mode throughout the night, pacing Baker with 14 kills, 14 assists and eight digs.
Crawford was big at the net as well with 10 kills and 13 assists to go along with her six aces.
In the second game, The Tigers led 6-4 before Baker ran off nine unanswered points with Crawford in serve.
And although Blountstown made a late run in the third and final game, the Gators were in control from that point.
The win was No. 517 for Combest, who will retire from volleyball at the end of this year.
With a state title now four matches away, the magic number is 521.
“We’re just trying to go as far as we can,” Crawford said. “We want to do our best for her, and maybe we can win it all.”
Baker 3, Blountstown 0
Scores: 25-22, 25-15, 25-22
Baker (24-3): Kali Flanders 5 kills, 2 aces, 8 digs; Sydney Boutwell 12 digs; Chelsea Combest 14 assists, 14 kills, 2 aces, 8 digs; Apryl Crawford 13 assists, 10 kills, 6 aces, 1 block; Whitney Boutwell 3 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs; Courtney Fountain 3 kills, 3 blocks; Kaylee Bradley 2 kills, 4 aces, 2 digs.
