Palmer Trinity withstood a near comeback, but hung on to beat the visiting Warriors 25-23, 25-20, 26-28, 25-20 in a Region 4-2A semifinal at the Falcons' gym.
Palmer Trinity (23-7) will make its second consecutive regional final appearance Saturday when it hosts Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian at 2 p.m. A Falcons' win would send them to state for the second time in four seasons.
''I expected us to play our best volleyball at this time of the season,'' Gonzalez said. ``That's what we train so hard for. This team hasn't lost its mental toughness and is playing at an intensity that's better than most right now.''
Palmer Trinity, which dropped its first regular season encounter with Westminster Christian earlier this season, rebounded two weeks ago with a victory to capture the District 16-2A championship.
After taking a two-game lead Tuesday, the Warriors won a hard-fought third game behind outside hitter Taylor Chao's timely hitting. Chao and Palmer freshman Paulina Prieto (Pictured) dueled point for point until Westminster prevailed 28-26.
But in the fourth game, Prieto helped the Falcons take control and clinched the match with her 11th kill after Chao blocked an attack on the previous point. Prieto, 6' tall, finished with five blocks as well.
''I knew we weren't going to lose,'' Preito said. ``After we lost to them this year, we felt like hurt tigers, we knew it was a matter of time before we woke up.''
Palmer senior middle hitter Laura Posada, one of the few remaining players from the school's 2005 squad that made it to the state final four, made big contributions Tuesday as well. She posted eight kills and three blocks, while junior outside hitter Kristen Titley had nine kills, two aces and two blocks. Junior setter Sarah Alfonso, who played nearly the entire match that lasted two hours, finished with a season-high 82 assists and five kills.
''As the season has gone on, we've strengthened as a team,'' Titley said. ``We've all been really dedicated and we have a lot of confidence in each other.''
Go and support Palmer Trinity at 2:00PM and root them onto the State Final four.
NOTE: Attached Picture was taken by Phillip "FLIP" Littke
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