By DAN HOEHNE
daniel.hoehne@newssun.com
The tone is varying between area volleyball teams, with two battling toward the end and a third pretty much set in its' spot.
Lake Placid and Avon Park are battling for the second seed in the District 10-4A standings and each took one step closer with convincing wins Tuesday night.
The Dragons, hosting Frostproof, rolled to a three-set sweep with sores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-19, moving their overall record to 10-2 on the year, 5-2 in district play.
The Lady Devils, on the road at Mulberry, also pulled off a three-and-out to keep them tied with Lake Placid in the second district spot.
Avon Park topped the Dragons in their first meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 25, with Thursday's match-up between the two teams marking the last district match for both, making it all the more pivotal.
Sebring, meanwhile, traveled to Winter Haven in a struggling loss on Tuesday night.
"We miss Lindsey, we're out of whack, and no one stepped up when we needed it," explained head coach Venessa Sinness.
Still without their starting setter, junior Lindsey Whittington, the young Sebring squad is having a hard time adjusting.
Whittington suffered a grade-two ankle sprain early in last Thursday's match against district mate Lake Gibson.
Making adjustments has been one of the Blue Streaks constants this season and that trend continues.
But with their district slot locked in at third place, Sinness sees the remaining games mostly as a chance to continue gaining experience.
Whittington is expected to be cleared to play by the end of next week, just a few days before the district tournament.
In the meantime, Sinness decided to pull up freshman Kiersten McSheffrey to substitute as setter until Whittington is healthy again.
The Streaks have less than two weeks to prepare for the district tournament.
Sebring closed out its' district slate at Lake Gibson Thursday, head to a two-day tournament this weekend and finish the regular season with county clashes against Lake Placid Tuesday and Avon Park Thursday, Sept. 18.
News-Sun correspondent Brittany Whittington contributed to this article.
Friday, October 12, 2012 - www.newssun.com/FRI-10-12-12-VB