St. Cloud took favored Celebration to the limit in each of their three sets Tuesday, but the host Storm used fast starts to defeat the Bulldogs, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22 in an FHSAA boys volleyball first-round playoff matchup.
With the win, Celebration (21-2), a two-time state runner up in 2018 and 2019, hits the road Friday to play undefeated Tampa Bay HEAT (24-0), who took care of Tohopekaliga (12-8) on Tuesday.
Celebration seemed able to bring their attack from wherever they chose on Tuesday. The hit squad of Victor Binet, Darion Graham-Roldan, Jackson Wilson and Lucas Nieves combined for 24 kills and a handful of blocks. The Storm took early leads in each set and, while the Bulldogs managed to narrow leads or tie late in them, Celebration got all the key point at the end of sets. It was a good recipe for a young group that hasn't seen much of this success, Coach Pedro Davila said.
"We were very disciplined tonight. We took the lead in every set, which is good in a playoff setting because we're a young team," he said. "This isn't one of those teams we had a couple years ago. We played together all year long, and tonight showed. It will determine a match."
Indeed, the Storm led the first set early, but the hitting of Skyler Tutor (eight kills) kept St. Cloud (18-8) in it, tying it at 18-18 before the Storm won seven of the next eight points. CHS took a 17-8 lead in the second set, but St. Cloud rallied to make it 24-21. And leads of 9-4 and 14-9 shrank to 15-14 before Garham-Roldan and Wilson went to work.
While Tutor is a junior St. Cloud Coach Ettie Singleton graduates setter Jan Sandoval, blocker Angelo Gutierrez and Logan Sanchez off the back line.
"Celebration played well and I hope they go far," Singleton said. "We played well too, but we gave up too many easy points."
Tampa HEAT handed Celebration one of its only two losses (25-18, 25-16, 25-18) on March 23.
"They came here, and we had an awful match, our inexperience showed," Davila said. "Let's see what happens Friday. We can win."
