We knew this weekend was going to be special in that we would have the chance to witness excellent games in the high school regional finals. Amongst the upsets were Redlands Christian and Jensen Beach but new leaders took hold of their destinies as they travel to Lakeland in their quest for a Championship. South Florida salutes all the teams that competed this weekend and we wish out teams the very best in their quests to be CHAMPIONS.
Regional Final 2A - Palmer Trinity d. Calvary Christian: The Palmer Trinity Falcons are headed to the Class 2A final four -- again. The Falcons(Pictured) downed Calvary Christian Academy on Saturday afternoon on their home court 3-1 to capture the Region 4-2A championship for the second time in four years.
Palmer traded point for point with the Eagles (18-8) in Game 4, but managed to stay a step ahead in the 25-12, 25-11, 22-25, 25-21 win.
''We did a good job of keeping our cool and playing controlled in the last game,'' Palmer Trinity coach William Gonzalez said. ``The girls knew what was at stake and had been working hard for the chance to get back to Lakeland.''
Freshman Paulina Prieto had a team-high 11 kills, while chipping in seven blocks, three aces and three digs. ''I'm so excited,'' Prieto said. ``This is all we ever really wanted. We started talking about it over the summer and would think about it while we ran the track.''
The Falcons (24-7) led 11-5 in Game 1 when they finally opened a lead behind the timely serving of Kristen Titley, whose three-point run gave Palmer a 14-5 lead.
Titley, a junior, added nine kills and eight digs.
''They were pretty tough,'' Titley said of Calvary. ``We got our offense going once they beat us in Game 3. It's so exciting to get back to Lakeland because when we last went, I was in eighth grade.''
Senior Laura Posada, who had four kills and two blocks, was a member of the 2005 team that last made an appearance in Lakeland. Setter Sarah Alfonso had a dominant game with 56 assists, including a few key ones in Game 4 to seal the win.
Regional Final 4-1A Lake Worth Christian d. Redland Christian: For the first time this season, Redland Christian found out what it was like to be on the other side of their matches and get outplayed, overwhelmed and humiliated. And it came at the wrong time.
During a Region 4-1A final match Saturday, visiting Lake Worth Christian came into the Falcons' gymnasium and dominated, handing them a 25-5, 25-14, 25-15 defeat.
The loss snapped Redland Christian's 18-game winning streak and stopped the Falcons from making it to the state tournament for the second straight year.
''My team didn't bring their A game and didn't play their level of volleyball -- that was obvious,'' Redland Christian coach Rhonda Carr said. ``I don't think they were intimidated, I just think that they didn't bring it -- they just didn't bring it. If three or four don't play their game, forget about it.''
Because Redland Christian (18-1) never gets much competition during the regular season, some players pretend to be star players from better teams in practice.
Lake Worth Christian (26-4) started off on a 12-0 run and scored 11 unanswered later to cruise through the rest of Game 1. Game 2 was similar, as Lake Worth Christian started with a 9-0 lead and built its advantage to as many as 12.
The only time the Defenders trailed in the match was when Redland Christian started off Game 3 with three unanswered points. But Lake Worth Christian came back with a 9-0 run and proved to be too much for Redland Christian.
Although her team was on the losing side, Carr -- who started the school's athletic program from scratch eight years ago -- can take some comfort in the fact that all seven of the girls who cruised through yet another regular season will be back next year, with five being seniors.
'I told them before the game, `Whatever happens, I'm proud of you guys,' '' Carr said. ``I have to be proud of them for what they did and how far they made it this year -- top eight in the state [in Class 1A].
Regional Final - Cardinal Gibbons d. Jensen Beach. Now, two years removed from the University of Florida, Farland stood by herself, hugging her kids, embracing the moment and bathing in her team's victory over defending state champ Jensen Beach (25-5) (15-25, 25-20, 25-22, 28-26), which gave Gibbons (28-3) a berth in the state final four.
''This means the world to me,'' said the first-year coach amid an onslaught of hugs and congratulations. ``Everyone knows this is what we work for. It means the world to keep the tradition going.''
Wynn (nine blocks), sophomore Crystal Dedes (eight blocks, 12 kills) and freshman Katie Hillman (seven blocks) combined for 24 of Gibbons' 34 blocks.
Molly Macek, whom Farland calls ''our all-everything player,'' made some incredible saves to keep long volleys alive and finished with 19 digs, two kills and eight service points. Setter Kayley McLaughlin, one of only three seniors, had 22 assists
Regional Final 4-5A - St. Thomas Aquinas d. Martin County: First came the minor setback, then the adjustments, capped by the barrage of timely blocks to propel the St. Thomas Aquinas girls' volleyball team to Lakeland next weekend for its second consecutive state final four appearance.
The Raiders dropped the first game of their Region 4-5A title match to visiting Martin County, but brushed it off to take control the rest of the way with a 3-1 victory (24-26, 25-14, 25-17, 25-20) Saturday at St. Thomas.
''We don't get down after losing our first game, like some teams would,'' St. Thomas' Brittany Linder said after leading her team with 10 blocks, with five of them coming in a 7-2 spurt that closed out the match.
``We were really strong in our blocking game, and we had our energy up after that first game.''
The Raiders, who improved to 24-5, will face Tampa Plant (28-8) in an 8 p.m. Class 5A semifinal match Friday at the Lakeland Center.
Kelly Marble, who led St. Thomas with 14 kills, also provided the presence at the net that was needed to offset the dominating presence of Tigers 6-5 hitter Elise Walch, a junior, and her 6-1 freshman sister, Nicole. Elise finished with 15 kills, and it was Nicole's block that clinched the first game for the Tigers (22-8) in a tight first game.
''In that first game, I think we were just trying to feel out the other team,'' Aquinas coach Lisa Zielinski said. ``I wouldn't say that's how I planned it, but it was a way to see how we matched up and what we had to focus on.
``I hadn't known much about their big hitter [Elise Walch] because she hadn't played for them until now [because of injury]; other than that, there wasn't much information about them.''
Zielinski's daughter, Stephanie, who finished with 27 assists and nine kills, helped turn the tide quickly in the Raiders' favor in the second game while getting help from Martin County with the frequency of unforced errors. The mistakes piled up early for the visitors as St. Thomas jumped out to a 7-2 lead, then closed it out on a 7-2 spurt with Dee Dee Dennis ending the game with a kill off a Stephanie Zielinski set.
Note: Attached Picture was teken by Phillip "FLIP" Littke
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