By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Harmony and Gateway are headed back to the regional volleyball playoffs.

The Longhorns defended their 4A District 6 title with a 25-10, 25-17, 25-14 win over Eustis at Oak Ridge High School on Thursday.

Harmony (24-2) will host 4A-5 runner-up Gainesville Eastside on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Gateway (15-11) will make back-to-back playoff appearances for the first-time ever. Despite losing the 6A-6 district championship to Vero Beach (17-3) by scores of 25-8, 25-18, 25-19 Thursday, Coach Julie Bavin’s team plays on Tuesday as the runner-up, and will travel to 6A-5 champion Olympia.

The Longhorns made quick work of their district title defense, dispatching Eustis in little over an hour. The 3-0 win completed a season in which Harmony didn’t lose a single game to a district opponent.

“We went five with Tavares in the district championship last year, so yeah, we know,” HHS Coach Eric Trowbridge said.

Any hopes that Eustis had of playing point-for-point with the Longhorns and trying to steal the first game ended when Harmony, holding a 10-8 lead, scored the next 14 points in a row. The surge was led by the hitting of senior Robin Janney, who had five of her nine kills in that game, and the blocking of Nia Frederick and setter Genesis Viera.

The Panthers hung around longer in the second game until Viera dashed their hopes with an amazing shot. With Harmony up, 18-15, the sophomore dove out of bounds in desperation to keep the ball alive on the third hit, lofted it back and over her shoulder, and the shot somehow dropped in on the Eustis side.

“That’s just lots of practice,” Viera said after the match with a wry smile. “I’m just glad I got to it to hit it.”

Harmony turned to Alicia Palm in the third game, with her blocking, hitting (six kills) and service game (two aces) preventing Eustis from mounting a rally.

Harmony advanced to Thursday’s final with a 25-7, 25-19, 25-16 win over St. Cloud (15-8) in Wednesday’s semifinal.

After qualifying for regionals for the first time in school history last year, and winning one playoff game, Trowbridge said the team is focused on taking the next step.

“We love being the district champs, but it means we’re one step to our goal,” he said. “From the start of the year we’ve talked about making it to Lakeland and what it takes to get there. We need three more wins to make our goal.”

Viera said the team expected to be challenged more than they were this week, so the impressive wins  leave a very positive feeling.

“We know it’s going to be a challenge the rest of the way, but we stick together, and have been playing very well,” she said.

Janney, one of just three seniors on the club, wants to end her career with a long playoff run.

“The teams we’ll see will be tough and will fight, but the team is playing together better than I think I’ve ever seen,” she said.

Gateway fell behind early in the first game but rallied to give Vero Beach a good sweat in the last two games, behind the middle play of Charnelle Michel and Elloni Ellick.

Despite the loss, Coach Julie Bavin remained excited about taking the team back to the playoffs in her first year leading the Panthers.

“Vero is a great team. I’m proud of the team for working hard,” she said. “I have brought a new style of volleyball to the the team and the girls have worked immensely to learn it and perfect it. I am truly honored to be a part of this team.”

Osceola hosted the 5A-5 tournament, but the Kowgirls could not parlay home-court advantage into their fourth consecutive regional playoff appearance. Osceola fell 25-11, 25-16, 25-16 to No. 2 seeded Winter Haven in Wednesday’s semifinal.

The Kowgirls end the season 16-11.