Harmony favored to repeat in OBC

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Harmony won its first Orange Belt Conference and district titles last year, and since its biggest contributors were underclassmen, the Lady Longhorns are favorites again.

Heritage Christian was one game away from reaching the Florida Christian Conference championship game.

Harmony

The Longhorns, coming off their most successful season ever, return six of their top players.

“Our better players last year were sophomores and juniors, so we feel like we’re pretty set for a while,” HHS Coach Eric Trowbridge said.

Libero Tori Keelean was county player of the year last season and is back for her senior year, just like outside hitter Robin Janney. Hitters Marie Gilbert, Samie Feliu, Kassandra Brady and middle blocker Alicia Palm all played as sophomores last year.

But the centerpiece to Harmony’s attack is probably sophomore setter Genesis Viera, who shared that job last year but has it all to herself now.

“Florida High Performance said she was in the top five in the nation as a setter,” Trowbridge said.

The coach also addressed the perceived bulls-eye his team’s back.

“On paper we feel like the favorites, so everybody will be gunning for us,” he said. “But we knew that going into the summer, which is when we addressed some overconfidence issues.”

The Longhorns began the season with a 3-0 victory over Lake Mary Prep.

Osceola

The Kowgirls were 14-11 last year and made the regional playoffs for the third year running, albeit as the District 5A-5 runner-up. Coach Carrie Palmi lost five seniors (four starters) to graduation.

She won’t use that as an excuse.

“Quite a few teams in our district lost big players,” she said. “We took who we’ve got to camp this summer and we developed a good defensive core.”

The seniors are hitters Dayana Rivera and Lexi Ballard. Junior Colleen Arago is the returning libero, and Krizia Marte was the setter much of 2009.

The rest of the squad is a collection of role players whose mission is to develop chemistry. Sophomores Lorraine Hoyos and Ninoshka Andujar play the back line. Sophomore Kristina Wendland and junior Megan Hearn play the middle. Sophomore Savanna Escobar is an outside hitter, and junior Madison McGehee is a setter.

“Harmony is probably the team to beat in the OBC,” Palmi said. “But, we’ll improve.”

The Kowgirls started off with a win over 5A-5 foe Ridge on Tuesday.

St. Cloud

The Bulldogs pulled the coup of the offseason when Ettie Singleton came from Gateway to take over the school’s program. Expectations for the team, which have been low in the years since Rob Gammons coached St. Cloud to five straight OBC titles (1999-2003), have gone back up.

“I want to say this now: we’re not rebuilding, we have good players,” Singleton said. “We’ve added some new faces, and people are expecting a lot from us, including ourselves.”

Senior hitter Steffi Rodriguez, junior hitter Terryn O’Donnell, junior libero Lynnsey Glunt and senior setter Annie Barberi all return. Complementing pieces will be seniors Sarah Sullivan and Gabby Morris in the middle, senior setter Emily Murray, and sophomore hitters Jahaira Aguilar and Brittney Walker.

Singleton said the mission of the eight-week regular season is to bring it all together at the right time.

“We hope to improve during the season and peak at the district tournament,” she said.

Gateway

The Panthers’ loss of Singleton is new coach Julie Bavin’s gain, and she has a roster to build with. It has only two seniors, middle blocker Elloni Ellick and libero Eleisha Castro.

Junior Charnelle Michel is a talented returning hitter. The rest of the lineup is a product of a deep program: sophomores Jasmi Corinealdi, Yesenia Bhola and Michelle Lopez and juniors Keanna Bowser, Kathleen Castro, Dena Seacord, Nichole Gonzalez, Lauren Russo and Katherine Ramirez.

“This is a group of good girls and we’ve brought a new game to them,” Bavin said.

The Panthers play in District 6A-6 with Vero Beach, Bayside, Port St. Lucie Centennial and Treasure Coast.

Poinciana

Lauren Valle is the new coach with the task of getting the Eagles’ program off the gym floor, something a handful of predecessors have struggled to do. Valle knows the first step is to roll up the sleeves and get to work.

“I’m here to stay,” she said. “We’re going to field all three teams (varsity, JV, freshman) for the first time in a while here.”

The Eagles have four seniors – middle blockers Kaytlin Rice and Shannon Kahn and outside hitters Katelyn Mencke and Kelian Gonzalez. Junior Rosana Rondon and sophomore Alexis Claudio will play the right side and setter.

“I feel like we can build with this group and improve,” Valle said.

Celebration

The Storm was 20-5 last year before suffering a crushing defeat in the District 4A-6 semifinals. And then, Coach Elizabeth Dunphy watched seven seniors – four of them starters – graduate.

So the message is clear to a young crop of players – step up, and do it in a hurry.

“My fear was that they’d kind of walk around expecting Laney (Henningsen) or Christianne (Berry) to walk in the gym,” Dunphy said. “I figure if they don’t do well early, it will light a fire under them to improve.”

Junior twins Juliana and Monique Milan give the Storm a strong front line. Senior Gabby Ortiz is the new setter. Outside hitter Lexi Stephan is a sophomore. The depth comes from liberos Lauren Davis and Jellian Aponte and hitters Alexus Alcala, Kylie Jansing and Crystal Torr.

Dunphy said the motto this year is to just play hard and ignore the struggles.

“We can fix our mistakes later,” she said. “I need for our younger players to learn the system and to believe in it.”

Liberty

Former assistant Gretchen Hill takes over the Chargers program, and she might have an improved program on her hands, as shown by a win over Celebration in the preseason jamboree.

Roxy Martinez and Melissa Diaz are the top hitters. Jordan Oloizia and Brenda Toro will block in the middle. Karla Negron is the setter and Tamara Hale will play the back row.

Southland Christian

The Flames graduated four starters, and Coach Sharon Gillespie admitted that, for the first time, her program is, “rebuilding a little bit.”

Gillespie won’t have any seniors, but the Flames do not lack experience. Sophomores Delaney Sjostrom (setter) and Rebecca Sweetman (left hitter) enter their fourth varsity year. Two more hitters, freshman Victoria Santana and junior Victoria Ramos, are back.

“Delaney and Rebecca are showing leadership, and Santana is a natural hitter and is going to be a good one,” Gillespie said.

Sophomores Sheena Fletcher and Gabriella Hermosa and juniors Brenda Rivera and Mariela Gil round out the roster.

Southland competes in District A-7.

New Dimensions

The Tigers play in District 2A-9 and are coached by Jodi Joostberns. The roster includes senior outside hitters Symphani Soto and Dajeanne Pitter, senior setters Adriana Cruz and Monendrick Belande, sophomore hitters Thalia Rodriguez and Chante Teixeira and freshman hitter/setter Brittany Otero.

Heritage Christian

The Eagles will rebuild under Coach Maria Hardwick, as only junior Megan Lima and senior Joy Hall have any varsity experience.

Senior Natalie Dorga, junior Roudna Fenrier, sophomore Shelly Ann Tyrell, freshman Abby Diauto and eighth-grader Angelica Maldonado round out the roster.