By Ken Jackson
For the News-Gazette

For Friday’s first set of the Class 7A state volleyball semifinals, the Harmony Longhorns looked like contenders to bring home the county’s first state title in the sport.

Then, Winter Springs flexed its muscles, and while the Longhorns put up a fight, in the end they just didn’t have enough punch, losing in four sets Friday at the Silver Spurs Arena.

Winter Springs (27-4) will play Stuart Martin County on Saturday at noon for the 7A title after dispatching Harmony (23-9), 23-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-20. Stuart Martin County defeated St. Thomas Aquinas in Friday’s other semifinal.

The Longhorns simply couldn’t counteract the Bears’ hitting tandem of Hazel Ortiz-Rosado (22 kills) and Rebecca Evans (15). HHS Coach Eric Trowbridge said those two led an attack that was simply better than the Longhorns’ offense.

“It boils down to execution. We didn’t put the pressure on them,” he said. “It seemed we were a half-second late on so many balls, and that’s the difference between getting to them and not.

“They executed better than us, I give them all the credit,” he said.

Harmony won a first set filled with ebbs and flows – the Lonhgorns led 6-3, then trailed 19-14 before Alicia Palm, Nia Frederick and Marie Gilbert all had key kills to pull ahead. Allison Van Tassel clinched it with an ace.

It only served to firm the Bears’ resolve. Ortiz-Rosado and Evans led Winter Springs with two five-point runs to take control of the second set.

Harmony made it tougher in the third and fourth sets, but the Bears answered every Longhorn run with one of their own. The Longhorns led the fourth set, 16-13, before Winter Springs scored 10 of the next 13 points.

Junior setter Genesis Viera, who had 28 assists, said the results matched the team’s emotions.

“In the first game we were ready and excited,” she said. “After the second game our emotions got a little mixed up. We were motivated to try to block everything. I know we fought for each point.”

Gilbert, a senior, led Harmony’s hitters with 12 kills. She said making the state tournament was the culmination of a career of hard work.

“Four years ago, Alicia and I were just tall, goofy freshmen. Coach T molded us,” she said.

Frederick and Palm, two other seniors, had eight and three kills respectively. Junior Kendall Pollock added five. Palm said she is proud of the team’s effort.

“We didn’t achieve every goal but we hit every one along the way – conference, district, regionals,” she said.

Trowbridge said his team showed enough fight and character to be champions.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” he said. “This is the saddest part of the every year, although it’s hard to be real sad at the state tournament. These girls have nothing to hang their heads about, they’ve had a remarkable season.”

Martin County defeated Winter Springs for the 7A championship Saturday.