The volleyball rosters for the Ida Baker Bulldogs and Cape Coral Seahawks are dominated by sophomores and juniors, signaling a bit of uncertainty for both as the season unfolds in the months ahead.

Tuesday night at Baker, it was the Bulldogs who showed they are farther along in their progression after dispatching the Seahawks 25-21, 25-12, 25-9 in the season opening match for both.

“We graduated eight seniors, so we are much younger this year with two sophomores and one senior,” said Bulldogs coach Renee Van Horn. “The lack that bond of knowing where their teammates are going to be. That will take some time, time on the floor.”

Despite some first-game nervousness, the Bulldogs came together as a group the longer they played.

“I was very concerned at the start,” said Van Horn. “We were a bit shaky at first and we were missing two of our three returning players. These girls had not played together a lot, but they really started to mesh later in the match.”

The three absent players – juniors Emily Gibson, Payton Van Horn and Brenna Hambsch – were participating in a college soccer showcase event in Orlando.

“The players who filled in really stepped up tonight,” said Van Horn. “Sierra Myers was very nervous for her first varsity start, but she got in a groove.”

Whenever the Bulldogs had to, it seemed, they would put together a multi-point run. They made runs of five consecutive points or more six times. Their longest string was 15 in a row at the start of the third game, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 15-2 gap.

By comparison, Cape had one five-point burst that occurred at the tail end of the first game when they cut Baker’s 23-16 lead to 23-21.

“I was very disappointed,” said Seahawks coach Lindsey Conley. “This was not our best game. We had moments of greatness and looked fabulous at times, but we have to get rid of our inconsistencies and we missed too many serves.”

The Seahawks, who won just one match a year ago, remain a young team with three seniors, four juniors and the rest still younger.

“We are young fundamentally,” Conley said, “but we will be better this year, I’m sure. The girls did a lot of work over the summer.”

Junior Alexis Ross led the Bulldogs with six kills with Myers, a junior, contributing five kills. Junior Kali Nordquist earned top server honors with that 15-point run in the third game. She also had seven assists. Junior Madison Kobs was the next-best server with two five-point runs and added nine assists.

Sophomore libero Lexi Goldberg contributed 10 digs for the Bulldogs, who host South Fort Myers next Tuesday.

Junior Alison Harper had a game-high eight kills for the Seahawks. Alysia Figueroa led the team with four blocks, Kaitlin Upton had six digs and Kristie Maselter handed out a game-high 12 assists.

Similar trouble followed the Seahawks to Gulf Coast Wednesday night where they absorbed a 25-8, 25-5, 25-6 defeat from the Sharks.

It was the first match for the Sharks, who got 15 digs, five kills and two service aces from Jessica Steuber. Ariana Neff handed out 21 assists to go with two service aces.

The Seahawks return to the court Thursday at South Fort Myers for their third straight road match.

North Fort Myers 3, Mariner 0: A lack of execution at the net was the key ingredient in Mariner’s 25-12, 25-18, 25-8 loss at North Fort Myers Tuesday.

“Our passing as a team went very well, but we didn’t execute well up front,” said Tritons coach Briska Wolfe.

Wolfe said Heather Getman had the best passing performance while Abby Willis led the team in kills and aces with three each.

The Tritons (1-1) host Island Coast Thursday.

Gateway Charter 3, Island Coast 0: Putting together a solid middle game was all Island Coast could boast about in a 25-10, 26-24, 25-11 loss to Gateway Charter.

As a team the Gators served the ball well at a 95-percent accuracy rate.

The Gators (0-2) play at Mariner Thursday night.

Seacrest 3, Oasis 0: Oasis had the unenviable task of facing a defending district champion, Seacrest, in its season-opening match. Seacrest showed its strength in a 25-10, 25-6, 25-14 triumph.

Showing few positives in the match, Oasis was led by Emma Nelson’s three service aces. The Sharks play again at Sarasota Christian Thursday.

Boys Golf

Ida Baker 154, Fort Myers 158, Gulf Coast 161: Battling a stiff breeze, the Ida Baker Bulldogs recorded their first two wins of the season Tuesday by beating Fort Myers and Gulf Coast at Arrowhead Golf Club in Naples.

Gulf Coast’s Corey Childers took match medalist honors with a 2-under-par 34, but the Sharks (0-2) came up short overall.

Seniors Dylan Fine and Tyler Doyle led the Bulldogs with solid rounds of 37 and 38, respectively. Sophomore Anthony Myers added a 38 while seniors Michael Faulkner and Bryr Austen each turned in the team’s fourth-best score at 41.

The Green Wave (2-1) rode a trio of 39s by Jonathan Lowrey, Sam Murphy and Ryan Fowler.

Baker (2-0) hosts Lehigh Thursday at Palmetto Pine Country Club.

Ida Baker 154 – Dylan Fine 37, Tyler Doyle 38, Anthony Myers 38, Michael Faulkner 41, Bryr Austen 41.

Fort Myers 158 – Jonathan Lowrey 39, Sam Murphy 39, Ryan Fowler 39, Mike Andre 41.

Gulf Coast 161 – Corey Childers 34, Matt Leite 41, Thomas Reber 42, Luke Hammock 44.

Swimming

Cypress Lake at Cape Coral: Cape Coral easily swept Cypress Lake in the season opening meet of the season Tuesday.

The Seahawk girls rolled to a 110-49 win behind Michaela Steakley and Monica Jaeger with double event wins each.

The Seahawk boys cruised 124-46 by winning all 11 events. Mike Padula turned in a personal best time of 1:18.56 in the 100 breaststroke for his first varsity win.

The Seahawks are back in the water Thursday for a home meet against Port Charlotte and North Port.

Girls

Cape Coral 110, Cypress Lake 49

200 medley relay – 1. Cape Coral 2:06.63; 200 free – 1. Jennifer Crawford (CC) 2:19.82; 200 IM – 1. Michaela Steakley (CC) 2:33.31; 50 free – 1. Samantha Morreal (CC) 30.69; 100 fly – 1. Michaela Steakley 1:13.08; 100 free – 1. Monica Jaeger (CC) 59.43; 500 free – 1. Hannah Brown (CL) 5:46.37; 200 free relay – 1. Cypress Lake 2:08.31; 100 back – 1. Monica Jaeger (CC) 1:08.39; 100 breast – 1. Hannah Brown (CL) 1:15.98; 400 free relay – 1. Cape Coral 4:06.95.

Boys

Cape Coral 124, Cypress Lake 46

200 medley relay – 1. Cape Coral 1:54.89; 200 free – 1. Andrew Greene (CC) 2:08.12; 200 IM – 1. Corey Connell (CC) 2:29.86; 50 free – 1. Graham Manza (CC) 24.45; 100 fly – 1. Rico Dall (CC) 1:01.27; 100 free – 1. Nick Keating (CC) 54.64; 500 free – 1. Graham Manza (CC) 5:12.88; 200 free relay – 1. Cape Coral 1:43.27; 100 back – 1. Tyler Thresher (CC) 1:02.87; 100 breast – 1. Mike Padula (CC) 1:18.56; 400 free relay – 1. Cape Coral 3:47.10.