For a second consecutive year, the Osceola will play for an FHSAA Class 7A Region 2 Volleyball championship. The Kowboys earned that right Saturday as sophomores Jordin Southall recorded 25 kills and Cate Palmi added 21 during a 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17 four-set win over Olympia.
The Kowboys (23-6) travel to regional No. 1 seed Jupiter (24-3) Wednesday. It will be a rematch of last year’s regional quarterfinal match won by Osceola in five sets.
"We haven't faced them this year, but we know a little bit about them from last year’s playoff game,” Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said. "They have an excellent outside hitter in Sarah Brodner, she’s like 6-5 and really solid. Although we are facing them on the road, I have a lot of confidence in the way we are playing right now. We have played an extremely difficult schedule with many of those matches on the road. To tell the truth, I don’t think any of the top eight teams left in 7A are unbeatable.”
A year ago the Kowboys won their first regional championship in school history by sweeping Dr. Phillips 3-0. The season came to an end with a heart-breaking five-set loss to Hagerty in the state semifinals.
Against Olympia, the Kowboys took a big advantage early by winning the first two sets, including a hard-fought second set that was decided by two points. But despite the 2-0 lead, Palmi believes it was the third set loss that ultimately set the stage for the victory.
Osceola trailed by five or six points for most of that set, including falling behind 23-18 late with Olympia holding serve. Still, the Kowboys rallied back to tie the score 23-23 before ultimately losing by two points.
"You always worry about becoming complacent after you win the first two sets and volleyball is such a game of momentum, it’s easy to let that edge get away. Early in the third game, it certainly looked like we were going through the motions. I was really proud with the way we fought back and almost won that set. Although they won the game I think by playing hard, we kept them from stealing any real momentum."
Palmi and Southall took control in the fourth set, combining 12 kills and two aces as Osceola jumped out to a 16-10 lead and never let Olympia get any closer than three points. Fittingly, the game ended with Palmi serving out the final points and Southall slamming down a kill on the final play.
Alex Liggeri (53 assists) and Dari Bravo (23 digs) came up big for the Kowboys, but Palmi also praised the effort of 6-4 freshman Brooklyn Sippio, who had 10 kills and five blocks. "Opponents tend to worry about our outside hitters and it sort of frees up the middle for us. Brooklyn's very young but she just keeps getting better and better. She was fantastic tonight for us."