Middleton, Fla. — What a difference two days can make.

After suffering a sweep Tuesday night, The Villages High School volleyball team enjoyed a sweep of its own, exacting revenge on West Port (Ocala) with a 3-0 victory on Thursday evening inside the VHS gymnasium.

The Buffalo (8-7) won via 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20 decisions, dispatching the Wolf Pack (10-10) in a reverse result of the contest played between the two teams just 48 hours prior in Ocala.

"To see us fight back two days later and win it in three (sets), it's like everything started clicking," said VHS head coach Michele Moreman. "The fight, the battle, just everything we've been looking for — we got to see it tonight."

VHS was led by Bailey Wright, who took over the first set with a series of four points over a seven-point run to give the Buffalo a 15-10 advantage. West Port trailed by as much as 18-12 in the opening frame, before battling back to take a 19-18 lead.

The two teams would tie for — or exchange — the lead in each of the next eight straight rallies, with The Villages eventually scoring the final three points of the set to win it 25-22.

Much of the same played out in the second set, as VHS enjoyed yet another lead of a half-dozen points at 12-6. That's when the visiting Wolf Pack fought back once more, pulling within 18-17 and forcing Moreman to call a timeout.

That'd be as close as West Port would get, however, as the Buffalo surged ahead to ultimately enjoy another 25-22 set win.

"It's like they found it in them to battle, not get rattled and be aggressive," Moreman said. "We've talked a lot about playing to win, not just playing not-to-lose, and I felt like they played to win tonight."

The distance on the scoreboard between the squads would get no larger than three points throughout the majority of the third set, as West Port and VHS fought equally hard on opposing ends of a potential sweep. The deciding moment came as VHS trailed 17-16, when Wright stepped to the service line to spark a late Buffalo rally.

The junior delivered three aces to help VHS eventually hold a 21-17 advantage, moments before the Buffalo closed out the sweep by scoring the final four points — two of which came by way of Wright.

"We had a little bit of a different spark in us tonight," Wright said. "As a team, I think we all wanted the redemption coming back from Tuesday's loss. We knew we could've played better then, and we wanted to prove that tonight."

The Buffalo will return to action at 6 p.m. Monday night, when they hit the road to take on Lecanto.


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment at cody.hills@tvcs.org or by calling (352) 259-6890.