St. John cruises previous Belleview in volleyball

St. John Lutheran freshman Sophia Ochoa scored a match high of 15 kills Thursday night to lead the Saints to a win over Belleview, 25-14, 20-25, 25-15, 25-16.

The win moved St. John to 13-5 that season.

“It was a good game and Belleview was ready to play,” said Saints coach Brad Ewers. “We’re young but we have a lot of depth and we’re pretty versatile. We have 15 girls in the squad, that’s most of what we’ve had in a long time and the hardest thing is to play them all. We can do them in a lot of different positions play that we have all year round to prepare for what we want to do later. “

The loss dropped a greatly improved Belleview roster to 10-7 overall.

“The girls played very well,” said Rattlers trainer Lindsay Seek. “We worked really hard to improve and play as a team. We had some injuries that kind of threw us off and we had some newbies playing in different positions than they were used to and now they have Gained experience and we are finally starting to “mesh as a team.”

St. John fired from all cylinders in the first set, opening a commanding 15-5 lead as senior outside hitter Samantha Kreitenstein drilled two kills and served an ace while Ochoa added multiple spikes and a block.

The lead grew to 23-13 before Saints student Giselle Baluyot had a block and a Belleview service mistake gave the first set to St. John.

The second set was a close affair, with the Rattlers playing well and fighting on an equal footing with the Saints. The score was 17 before Belleview pulled away thanks to the excellent net play from college students Emma Kaylor and Hope Willis and freshman Kahleah Lancaster.

With a score of 23-20, Rattlers senior Kyla Zisa served up an ace and Lancaster pounded a kill down the line to win the set and tie the match by 1.

St. John asserted himself again in the third set, using his athleticism to take a 23-14 lead as newcomer Rylee Palmateer scored several of her 13 kills and junior Sara Reese showed excellent reflexes with 25 throws at match height.

Palmateer found the range with a spike and a Belleview shot sailed far to improve the Saints 2-1.

St. John kept the pressure on in the last set and took an 8-1 lead while Kreitenstein, who won 14 service points, had a spike and an ace.

Saints rookie Ashley Downs contributed three aces and Ochoa shot a series of kills to increase the lead to 23-12.

Belleview tried to rally as the second Natilee Collins served aces in a row and Kaylor scored a few points on the net.

But one shot by the Rattlers sailed long and St. John’s Palmateer drilled a winner to seal the set and game for the Saints.

“St. John’s are a good team, it was a tough game and I’m glad we took a set for them,” said Seek. “I thought we could have done more, but it’s also a mental game.”

Belleview will be competing in a tournament at Orlando Bishop Moore High School on Friday and Saturday. St. John’s is at the Rock Academy on Monday night.

Next week is the last week of the regular season and both teams hope to do their best when their respective county tournaments start in two weeks’ time.

Belleview will participate in the District 5-5A tournament in Vanguard, while St. John will host the District 9-2A tournament.

“To be at home for the county tournament is a big plus for us,” said Ewers. “Our team is solid and we believe we have a chance to do well.”