When the Orange Belt Conference Tournament rolls around next month, Osceola (12-3) left little doubt it would be the team to beat, in dispatching previously unbeaten Harmony (4-1) in straight sets Tuesday night, 25-19, 25-14, 25-11.
“We’re starting to get healthy and tonight was a solid win for us,” Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said Tuesday. “We were able to get a lot of our backups into the game and whenever you can do that, it is a huge plus as it allows everyone to contribute.”
The match was never in doubt for the Lady Kowboys, who were 10th in Maxpreps’ state rankings across all schools and have now won five straight matches. In addition, with the win they have not dropped a set going 4-0 against county opposition this year.
In the first set with Sophia Spivey serving, Osceola went on an 8-0 run to forge a 14-7 lead. Osceola extended the lead to 21-12 before Harmony went on a 4-0 run to cut the margin to 21-16. But junior Jordin Southall came up with two of eight kills in the set to put it away.
Behind two Southall aces, the Lady Kowboys took a commanding 12-5 lead in the second set. Southall added four kills and Cate Palmi checked in with five of her own as Osceola again won comfortably.
Behind the play of Sam Vickers, Harmony was able to keep it close early in the third set as the Longhorns took early leads of 6-4 and 10-8. But with the score tied 12-12, Osceola took the lead on a Southall kill and then watched the junior serve out the final 12 points for the win. Her service game included five aces as she finished with 17 kills and seven aces.
“We work a lot on our service game,” Palmi said. “When you can drive the ball low and deep on the serve, the receiving team often has to take their second hit just to save the ball rather than getting a good set, which really makes it difficult for them to mount any type of attack.”
In addition to Southall’s heroics; Palmi checked in with 10 kills; Spivey had six kills and a block. Vickers had 10 kills and block for Harmony.
Osceola could be challenged in their next two matches. It travels to Windermere (8-4) on Wednesday and then host Hagerty next Tuesday. Although they’re just 3-4 this season, the Huskies have played a tough schedule and are currently ranked 10th in Class 7A MaxPreps’ computer rankings. They reached regionals last year and knocked off Osceola in a 7A State Final Four match two years ago.
“It should be a good test,” Palmi added. “But I am feeling pretty good with where we in this point of the season. We’re playing with some confidence.”
COUNTY NOTES: The OBC volleyball championship will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 3, with matches on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Tohopekaliga will host the third place (5:30 p.m.) and championship matches (6:30 p.m.).
Two Osceola football teams had to complete suspended games Monday. Liberty’s game at Oak Ridge was suspended Friday night due to lightning with the Chargers trailing 7-0. The second half was played Monday with the Chargers falling 13-0 to drop to 1-2 on the season. Celebration initially believed its game with Lake Region was declared official when lightning it with the Storm ahead 21-7 at the half. Lake Region school officials later decided they wanted to play the second half Monday. The teams met and the Storm out-scored Lake Region 27-0 in the second half for a big 48-6 win. Celebration went to 1-2 with the win and will have a chance to even its record at Space Coast on Sept. 20 after a bye week.
St. Cloud Athletics Director Bryan Smart announced the 101st Edition of “The Game” with Osceola High will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
