Middleton, Fla. — A third-set collapse doomed The Villages High School volleyball team in a season-opening debut at its new home Tuesday night at VHS.

The Buffalo weren't able to recover from letting a comfortable lead in a pivotal third set slip away, as VHS ultimately faltered by way of a 3-1 decision (17-25, 25-22, 20-25, 13-25) to visiting The Rock (Gainesville).

After dropping the first set and rallying for the second, The Villages (0-1) led by as much as seven points on four different occasions throughout the third frame — putting itself in a prime position to start the season with a win — before a boisterous first-time crowd on the new campus at Middleton.

But the Lions (1-0) roared back with an 11-1 run to take third set and then rode the momentum into the fourth and final frame, handing the Buffalo a frustrating defeat to open the 2023 campaign.

"We just had to step up and make those plays," VHS head coach Mary Pinkowski said of the third set that got away. "The good and the bad is some of the freshmen and sophomores — you didn't even know they were (young). It's bittersweet because we had kids step up ... but there's growing pains."

The two teams tied for the lead eight times and exchanged it another five times in the first set, but Lions junior outside-hitter Natasha Kidd closed the opening frame with a series of kills and precision serves to keep VHS off the board early.

The Buffalo fought back for a victory in the second set, spearheaded by a 1-2 punch from senior Moira Mangum and junior Bailey Wright. Mangum recorded four kills in the frame and added an ace during a back-and-forth stretch in the middle of the set, before Wright closed things out with a kill and a set-clinching block for the frame's 25th point.

All things appeared well for VHS to take a two-sets-to-one advantage early in the third, as the Buffalo led by as much as 18-11 late in the frame. The Rock answered with several key blocks to halt the Buffalo momentum, as the six-foot-pair of juniors in Mary Massias and Giovanna Rosario sent away a handful of shots on their own to inspire life into the visitors once again.

That let the Lions' belief back into the set, with The Rock rattling off 11 of the final dozen points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The swing on the scoreboard was too much for VHS to overcome, as the Buffalo fell into a 5-0 hole early in the fourth set and never mounted a comeback en route to a season-opening defeat.

VHS will look to rebound on Thursday night, when it hosts South Sumter (Bushnell) at 6:30 p.m.


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