By PATRICK CASEY
The South Walton Seahawks needed five sets as they rallied from a 2-1 game deficit to defeat Liberty County in the District 4, Class A volleyball title game played in Port St. Joe on Thursday night.
The Seahawks (12-10) earned their second consecutive district title in the sport and defeated the Bulldogs for the second time in the title game to earn a first round home playoff game with Chipley (17-7) on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Liberty County, the top seed in the tournament and a squad that featured six seniors on the roster, defeated the Seahawks in both regular season matches and got off to a solid start with a 25-22 win in the opening set with the help of four service errors by South Walton.
The Seahawks were undaunted as they rolled to a 15-8 lead in the second set as junior Olivia Sanders helped serve the Walton County squad to the early lead. Freshman Madi Marotta and Taylor Prince kept up the service barrage while junior Belle Waldrop defended the net as the squad rolled to a 25-12 decision.
Liberty County got off the deck in the third set as they edged ahead 15-13 only to see the Seahawks rally and tie the match at 23-all. A service error by South Walton opened up an opportunity for the Bulldogs to jump ahead as they closed out the game to earn a 25-23 decision.
Junior setter Laura Andrews got the Seahawks going in the fourth set as the team moved ahead 15-10 and went on to even the match with a 25-18 decision.
Sanders provided a pair of key shots early in the fifth set to put South Walton up 2-1 with a Waldrop kill pushing the lead to 4-2. Waldrop struck again with a pair of kills and a Liberty County error moved th lead to 8-3. The Bulldogs closed the gap to 9-8 as South Walton hit a pair of shots wide to tighten the score but the Bulldogs lost their touch from that point on with Andrews serving the team to a 15-8 win.
Coaches Andrew Hock and Michael Emerick saw their youthful squad jell over the final few weeks of the season as the team features just two seniors: Olivia Kolovich and Kaleigh Miller.
The Seahawks are in the playoffs for the third consecutive season under the co-coaches and have won four of their last five contests, defeating host Port St. Joe to qualify for the playoffs and move into the district title match.
