Winter Park had to turn back Osceola rallies several times, advancing to the FHSAA Class 7A State Championship Volleyball Final with a hard-fought 25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 25-22 win the Lady Kowboys Friday at Polk State College in Winter Haven.
The loss dropped Osceola to 24-5 and ended its season in the semifinal round of the state tournament for the second time in the last three years. Winter Park (26-1) will face state No. 1 Plant, a three-set winner over Boca Raton in the other semifinal game, in the 7A Championship Saturday night.
"I could not be prouder of how hard we fought tonight," Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said. "When you get into a match like this, every point is critical and every mistake is magnified. We scrapped and clawed are way all night, unfortunately they just made a few more plays than we did."
Osceola led early in the first set 19-16, but Winter Park went on a 6-2 run to take a 22-20 lead and held on to take a one-set lead.
The second set went back-and-forth with 10 ties and nine lead changes. With the score tied 21-21, Osceola took the lead on a Cate Palmi kill; but the Wildcats took the next point on a Amelia Mancino kill. Sophie Spivey came up with two huge points with blocks at the net and a Winter Park net violation finished a 3-0 run as Osceola took the set 25-22.
Winter Park dominated most of the third set, building five point leads at 12-7 and 17-12 before Osceola rallied. Trailing 20-17, Osceola tied it on a Palmi kill and back-to-back return errors by Winter Park. Two key kills by Mancino were countered by a Palmi kill to tie the set at 24. But Mancino came up with a cross-court spike to get to set point and an Osceola return went into the net for the 26-24 win.
Osceola fell behind by three points several times in the fourth. But a 3-0 run tied it at 18-18 and Osceola appeared to take the lead on the next point when Andrea Rodriguez's faked a set and placed a misdirected dink shot over the net. But on the play she was called for a carry and the point was reversed. Palmi tied it on the next point with a kill, before Winter Park took a 22-19 lead on a 3-0 run of their own. Still, the Lady Kowboys fought back. Palmi followed a Winter Park service error with a kill and a net violation tied the game at 22-22.
A Mancino kill was followed by an Osceola net violation and on match point, an Osceola set attempt ended up in the net for the 25-22 win.
"We fought back twice in the final two sets and had an opportunity to win them both," Coach Palmi said. "Give them credit though, they made the plays when they had to and stopped our momentum."
Palmi led Osceola with 23 kills; Southall added 19; while Brooklyn Sippio and Spivey posed 16 each. Giada Vidi led Winter Park with 23 kills; Mancino had 19.
"It was a disappointing finish to a really good season," Southall added. "The difference came down to a few plays and a few mistakes. They made a couple more than we did and we made a couple more errors than they did. The result aside, I was really proud with the way my teammates played tonight. Hopefully this experience is something we can learn from and get better."
The loss was Osceola's first since a three-set loss to Winter Park back on Sept. 25. The Lady Kowboys were on a nine-match winning streak before Friday's setback. Still, Osceola has a lot to look forward to.
It's top three outside hitters (Palmi, Southall, Spivey), top middle blocker (Sippio) and best Libero (Dari Bravo) all return next season.
"We lose Andrea (Rodriguez) at setter but we have a lot of talent returning," Coach Palmi said. "They will be a year older and a year more experienced and we certainly expect to be back here next year."
The current junior class now has two State Final Fours and a Regional Final appearance on its resume and has posted a 73-17 record in the process.
