Senior captain Daniel Santiago recorded 11 kills and seven aces to lead top-seeded Celebration to a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-20, 26-24) in the 2025 Orange Belt Conference boys volleyball championship Friday at Harmony’s Butler Gym.
In winning their fifth OBC boys volleyball championship in the last seven years (excluding the Covid season), the Storm moved to 10-6 on the season and remained undefeated (8-0) against Osceola County opposition. St. Cloud, which lost for the second time this year to the Storm, fell to 8-9.
“Daniel is our team captain and he really provided a spark for us tonight,” Storm coach Lidvani Pereira-Paiva said. “He always seems to make the big plays when we need him the most.”
The match started off slow for both teams, with each team making numerous service and hitting errors. But with the score knotted at 16-16, Santiago served out five straight points – four with aces – as the Storm took a 21-16 lead. St. Cloud use a 4-0 run of its own to cut the gap to 21-20, but Celebration regained control and eventually served out the set.
Only a couple of points separated the two teams for most of the second set. But with Celebration leading 14-13, they went on a 9-3 run to jump in front 23-16. The Bulldogs would rally behind the play of Dante Cayaban and Enrique Soto to cut the gap to 23-20 before a net violation on St. Cloud was followed by a Davi Jardim kill as Celebration took the second set.
The final set was a back-and-forth game for the most part as neither team could forge a lead bigger than three points.
That changed late in the period as St. Cloud scored five consecutive points – two on a pair of aces by Fernando Mendez-Morales – as the Bulldogs forged ahead 22-17.
Following a side out, Santiago once again took control for the Storm. With the senior serving, he paced a 5-0 run as Celebration took a 24-22 lead. His sixth serve went into the net and St. Cloud followed with a kill to even the game at 24-24. But the match soon ended, as St. Cloud was called for a violation at the net and on the ensuing point, Soto’s thunderous spike went wide to give Celebration the title.
In addition to Santiago, several other Storm played had outstanding performances. William Castillo had 10 kills and couple of aces, Oliver Binet had six kills and an ace and Marius Petrikas five kills, an ace and a block.
St. Cloud was led offensively by Soto (18 kills) and Cayaban (11 kills and an ace).
In third place action, Harmony defeated Poinciana three sets to one. Two weeks remain in the regular season before the start of district playoffs.
Tournament Results
Monday
#1 Celebration (Bye)
#2 Harmony def. #7 Liberty, 3-0
#3 St. Cloud def. #6 Gateway, 3-2
#4 Poinciana def. #5 Tohopekaliga, 3-1
Tuesday
Semifinals
St. Cloud def. Harmony,3-2
Celebration def. Poinciana 3-2
Consolation Playbacks
Tohopekaliga (bye)
Gateway 3, Liberty 0
Thursday
5th Place Game: Tohopekaliga def. Gateway, 3-0
Friday
3rd Place Game: Harmony def. Poinciana, 3-1
Championship: Celebration def. St. Cloud, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 26-24)
