Niceville downs Crestview to advance; FWB ousted by Mosley (PHOTO GALLERIES, VIDEOS)

NICEVILLE — Two coaches offered two stark contrasts to the emotional roller coaster that is the postseason on Tuesday.

Having just watched top-seeded Niceville cruise to a three-set win over fourth-seeded Crestview in the District 2-5A tournament semifinals, Eagles coach Kris Hagberg spoke matter-of-factly about her team’s business-like effort, pointing to a well-rounded attack and an aggressive defense as once again keying another win.

Earlier, moments after watching her second-seeded team fall in four highly-strung sets to third-seeded Mosley, first-year Fort Walton Beach coach Lane Styne’s pained eyes told the story.

“To me, it’s like getting hit by a car,” Styne said. “I was not prepared (for a loss). I didn’t expect to walk out of here with a loss. I don’t like saying, ‘Goodbye.’ I wasn’t ready and I don’t think half of those girls were ready. For it to be over is a shock.”

PHOTOS: Click to view a photo gallery from the Niceville vs. Crestview match.

Fort Walton Beach’s (14-9) loss coupled with Niceville’s (25-0) win sets up a 1 vs. 3 paring in Thursday’s finals, which will get underway at 6 p.m. at Niceville.

The first of the day’s two semifinals was a battle, with Fort Walton Beach twice taking the lead late before watching an equally resilient Mosley (22-4) fight back to take the set. Down 20-19 in the first set, Mosley knotted the score at 20-all on the strength of a Deanna Canfield kill. Mosley then lost its serve before Kelsey Bell evened the score at 21-21 with a powerful spike.

The two teams would again exchange points until another booming kill from Canfield made it 24-22 in favor of the Dolphins. Canfield then iced it with yet another spike — her third kill of the set.

Set 2 saw Fort Walton Beach once again have the Dolphins on the brink with the Vikings taking a 23-19 lead, but once again Mosley refused to break. On the service of Canfield, Mosley rattled off six straight points to take a 26-24 win.

Undaunted, Fort Walton Beach responded with a 25-22 third-set win that saw Savannah Bruner tally eight kills before the Dolphins closed out the win in the fourth, 27-25.

“I just thought our seniors played with a lot of heart,” Mosley coach Steve Canfield said. “We were battling and we didn’t want our season to be over. Fort Walton Beach played a great match.”

PHOTOS: Click to view a photo gallery from the FWB vs. Mosley match.

Sarah Guidry and Savannah Bruner led Fort Walton Beach with 12 kills apiece. Katrina Slater had 40 assists and Emily Guidry had six blocks and six kills.

For Niceville, after burning through the regular season unbeaten, its semifinal matchup with Crestview provided little in terms of drama, but did serve to illustrate how multi-dimensional the Eagles’ attack has been this season.

In defeating the Bulldogs (8-12) in straight sets — 25-9, 25-10, 25-17 — Niceville received 10 kills from Delaney Bell, seven kills from Katie Weeks and Kacie Stone and six kills from Lindsey Schoewe.

Never was Niceville’s balance more apparent than during a stretch midway through the opening set. After back-to-back spikes from Bell on the left side, server Karson Hinds scored an ace before Schoewe banged home a kill from the right side. The deluge of points powered an impressive 8-0 run by the Eagles that set the tone for the remainder of the night.

“They can score from either side, the back row … That’s a sign of a well-rounded team,” Hagberg said. “The kids have worked really hard this year.”

Bell credited the Eagles’ single-minded approach for their latest win.

“We just have to take it one game at a time,” Bell said. “We can’t take anything for granted, just play the absolute best we can and do what we’re supposed to.”