By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Osceola and Harmony’s volleyball teams have rolled through county competition and will be the No. 1 seeds at their district tournaments that start Oct. 25.

The Longhorns are 13-3 after a tough 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 win over Apopka Oct. 6 and a three-game win over St. Cloud that locked up the top district spot.

Their only losses have come to Melbourne Central Catholic (twice) and Clearwater Central Catholic in a tournament. Harmony is 5-0 in the Orange Belt Conference. It can claim a third-straight outright OBC title with a win Thursday against Poinciana.

The Kowgirls wrapped up an undefeated regular-season run through District 7A-5 after a furious comeback at Lake Minneola on Oct. 6. Coach Carrie Palmi’s team dropped the first two games but rallied to win 21-25, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25, 15-11.

“I saw my team play amazing,” she said. “I’m very proud after a slow start.”

That was their last District 7A-5 match, and they completed the Orange Belt Conference schedule at 5-1, losing only to the Longhorns.

So with no matches vital to the standings until districts start – Osceola and Harmony will play again  Tuesday at OHS – focus and motivation might waiver, if they didn’t have experience with this before.

“We have been in this exact same spot for three years in a row now,” HHS Coach Eric Trowbridge said. “It is great to win OBC, it’s great to be the No. 1 district seed, but we have work to do. We know that we are far from accomplishing our last goal (making the state tournament at the Silver Spurs Arena).”

The Longhorns and Kowgirls will try to make some improvements this weekend at the Dig Pink Festival in Orlando. They’re both in the elite bracket.

“We hope to improve every match, at least some aspect of our overall game,” Trowbridge said. “We took another loss to MCC and it just serves as motivation for our girls to get better. We stress that every player has to improve on something everyday we step on the court, practice or match. At the Dig Pink tournament we have always fallen short of our goal. Motivation is not an issue with this team. We have three weeks to get to the pinnacle of our potential.”

Palmi said her team will be challenged in the Dig Pink event, something it needs in order to elevate its game prior to the postseason.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of teams have gotten better that we’re playing the second time through, so I’m trying to make sure that we’re getting better, too,” she said.

“We seemed to shine nice and early and have a lot of consistent players that are doing their jobs week in and week out and I’m trying to push them a little harder now in the most crucial part of our season.”

Palmi said the key between now and tournament time is to make sure her team is healthy and rested.

“Our offense has been trying new things that will help us a lot when it comes to the playoffs. Our girls are getting tired and we’ve had to deal with some flus and viruses so I’m trying to give them appropriate rest and days off when they’re available and make sure we kick it in gear other times.”