See schedule for tournament beginning Monday
With action wrapping up before next week’s Orange Belt Conference Volleyball Championship, two things became abundantly clear Thursday night. Harmony has a resilient team and Osceola is good – like really. really good.
Looking to build some momentum heading into the OBC Tournament, Harmony (8-7) picked up it third win in their last four matches – defeating Tohopekaliga in five sets (19-25, 25-15, 15-25, 26-24, 15-8).
With the win, the Longhorns moved to 5-0 against county opposition. Despite playing all season without All-County outside hitter Samantha Vickers (ankle injury), the Lady Longhorns improved to 4-1 in matches extended to five sets.
“No question it was a total team effort,” Harmony coach Ryan Kading said. “The thing is that this team never quits.”
That was apparent as the Longhorns dropped the first set and fell behind 13-6 in the second but won 19 of the last 26 points to level the match at one game each.
After dropping the third, they again fell behind 12-7 but scored six of the next seven points to lead 14-13. They held on for the win and then proceeded to dominate thefinal set. Harmony had plenty of heroes Thursday: Kionne Washington and Leomi Almonte combined for 24 kills and Marcella Quezada and Yareliz Castro contributed five aces each.
The play of freshman Eliana Mukoie that may have made the biggest difference in the match. She came on strong to record 15 kills, including several huge plays in the decisive fourth and fifth sets.
“When Sam went down, we moved Eliana from inside middle blocker to the outside. She responded well to that move and has dominated some matches for us. She just seems to get better and better each week,” Kading said.
Tohopekaliga (5-8) were led by Jazmin DiLeo and Jazzy Pytner. The two combined for 34 kills and five aces in the match.
Meanwhile, a highly anticipated match between a pair of the tops in the state rankings, Osceola (15-3, ranked No. 2 in Class 7A) and Hagerty (12-3, No. 3), turned into a rout. The Kowboys turned in a straight-set 25-13, 25-21, 25-17 win.
USF commit Cate Palmi led the way with 20 kills and seven digs, while Vanderbilt commit Jordin Southall 10 kills and eight digs. Delaney Webb posted 42 assists and Sophie Spivey added eight kills.
“Having to play a big match on the road against an outstanding opponent, I was really proud of how focused my team was tonight,” OHS Coach Carrie Palmi said. “We seem to play of best volleyball against elite opposition, and I thought that was the case tonight. One of our goals this year was to gain home court advantage through regionals and this win is a big step in the right direction.”
The OBC Tournament begins Monday. Osceola, the prohibitive favorite, and Gateway will host matches Monday and Tuesday as the top seeds. The Kowboys have won 21 consecutive matches against county opponents, going back to a 2021 loss to Tohopekaliga.
Osceola, who is ranked only behind defending state champion Winter Park in 7A, has played an extremely difficult schedule. Its only three losses of the year came at the prestigious NIKE Tournament of Champions in Gainesville. Two of those setbacks where to nationally-ranked Cornerstone Christian (Texas) and tournament runner-up IMG Academy.
Counting the Hagerty win Thursday night, the Lady Kowboys have now posted victories this season over five teams ranked in the FHSAA top 10, including Ponte Verde (#7-5A), Bishop Moore (#7-4A), Innovation (#5, 5A) and Plant (#5-7A).
The complete tournament schedule:
Monday, Sept. 23
At Osceola High School
Game 4: #4 Harmony vs. #5 Tohopekaliga, 5 p.m.
Game 1: #1 Osceola vs. #8 Liberty, 6:30 p.m.
At Gateway High School
Game 3: #3 St. Cloud vs. #6 Celebration, 5
Game 2: #2 Gateway vs. #7 Poinciana, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 24
At Osceola & Gateway
Monday's loser, 5 p.m.
Monday's winners, 6:30
Thursday, Sept. 26
At Higher Seeds
7th Place and 5th place games, 5 p.m.
At Celebration High
3rd Place game, 5 p.m.
Championship, 6:30
(Note, if Celebration is not in the top 4, it will host its match and the 3rd Place Game will be hosted by the top seed).