Region 4-4A semifinal Cardinal Gibbons d. Mater Academy: In terms of Cardinal Gibbons girls' volleyball -- and volleyball in all of South Florida, for that matter -- nobody will ever take the place of Louise Crocco.
In her first season as coach of the Chiefs, Kathryn Farland isn't doing half bad.
Despite taking over for an area legend who led the program to 18 state championships and inheriting a team that graduated seven seniors, Farland led her new squad to a district title and, after Tuesday night's Region 4-4A semifinals, a 27-3 record. Courtney Buchanan (#2) Pictured scores on a kill shot.
On the road against Mater Academy, Cardinal Gibbons kept setting the bar higher in what was expected to be a sluggish season as it rolled to a 25-19, 25-14, 25-13 victory against the team it knocked out of the regional quarterfinals two years ago.
Cardinal Gibbons will now move on to the regional finals on Saturday, where it will host Jensen Beach (25-4) -- which knocked the Chiefs out in the regional finals last year.
Crocco, still the athletic director, said of promoting a 23-year-old to take her place: ``A lot of people wondered why I hired somebody so young, but I started when I was her age, and I knew that she'd be fine.''
Region 4-5A semifinal: St. Thomas Aquinas d. Fort Myers 22-25, 25-15, 27-25, 25-22: Sharing sets and hits, 5-11 Kelly Marble and 5-10 Stephanie Zielinski led the versatile Raiders (23-5) at home. Marble had 15 kills, 12 assists, four digs and three blocks. Zielinski totaled 29 assists, eight kills, eight digs, two blocks and a tip.
''[Fort Myers] came out strong, and we were not communicating in the first game,'' Marble said. ``Teamwork pulled us through.''
Region 4-3A semifinal Florida Christian d. Chaminade 25-5, 21-25, 25-17, 27-25: Florida Christian (26-2) beat the Chaminade-Madonna for the third consecutive time, and this time it counted the most. By beating the Lions in four sets, Florida Christian advances to the regional finals.
''We really came out on fire in the first set, but after the second set we brought the same intensity we brought to our other games'' coach Beth King said. ``We did a better job of doing the little things and we came together and won an important game.''
The Patriots were lead by Christina Abreu who had 13 kills. senior Christine Lozano contributed 43 assists.
Chaminade-Madonna was lead by O'Niel, who had 14 kills, four blocks and four service points, and Sicam, who had 23 digs and five service points.
Region 4-3A Semifinals North Broward Prep d. Pine Crest in what was the most contoversial finish of the night. For about five minutes, Pine Crest thought it had won its semifinal game against North Broward Prep, but Eagles coach Terri Jimenez argued the final call of the game to the head official.
Jimenez argued that the Pine Crest player who attempted to block the North Broward Prep kill attempt then hit the ball again after blocking it making it a double hit.
After arguing her team's case and a brief conference by the officials, it was decided that the point would be replayed with the Eagles serving.
That was it took for the Eagles to come away with the stunning 25-14, 25-27, 13-25, 25-23, 17-15 win at Pine Crest on Tuesday night.
Whether the Pine Crest protest makes a difference remains to be seen, but what the final call by the officials stole from the overall match was a fiercely competitive match with both teams battling for every point.
The Eagles (21-6) rolled in the first game, but blew a chance to go up 2-0 after back-to-back blown sets that could have led to kills to win the set. It appeared the Panthers were taking over after that, as Shelby Spicer had 10 straight service points that led Pine Crest to an easy third set win.
Spicer led Pine Crest (12-17) with 23 kills, 20 digs and 11 service points. But the Panthers blew an 18-15 lead in the fourth set.
Olivia Mesner led the Eagles with 21 kills and seven blocks. Krista Lighter had 27 digs and Katelyn Hummel had 41 assists and 20 service points.
Stay tuned for continued and upcoming action on the road to the Final Four in Lakeland.
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