Osceola, Gateway, St. Cloud high seeds, could factor in Thursday's district championships
It’s district tournament time for a number of high school volleyball teams around the county, and at least three of them will be eyeing district championships when quarterfinal matches begin Monday.
In District 6A-7, St. Cloud (17-7) is the No. 2 seed and will host Poinciana (5-11) on Monday night 7 p.m., when No. 3 (7-11) hosts Celebration (4-10). The winners of those two matches square off on Tuesday at the higher seed.
The top-seed for the tournament is Freedom (18-6). The Patriots have a Monday bye and will host the winner of Monday’s No. 5 Harmony (7-17) at No. 4 Cypress Creek (16-7) on Tuesday.
Head Coach William O’Boyle says his team will have to be on the top of their game to move past district play.
“Our goal heading into the season has been to get tougher both mentally and physical and I think we accomplished that,” O’Boyle said of his team that improved from nine to 17 wins and went 9-4 against county opposition. “But this is a tough district with three very capable teams. I certainly believe we have the potential to win but we are going to have to ‘show up’ and ‘execute’ in every match.”
A trio of underclassmen in sophomore Tessa Rojas (180 kills), junior Trinity Urban (142 kills) and sophomore Abilgail Rivas (321 assists) have led the way for the Bulldogs.
O’Boyle believes a district championship may be necessary for his team to move on. “There’s always an outside chance of an at-large, but looking at the overall strength of the region, it’s not something we should count on.”
Both top-seeded Osceola (18-6) and No. 2 Gateway (18-2) should qualify for a Region 5A-2 berth without winning a 5A-6 title this week. Based on five straight wins to end the season, a win over Gateway in the Orange Belt Conference tournament and its strength of schedule, the Kowboys will have home court advantage as long as they keep winning.
In a big district with eight teams, Osceola hosts Lake Weir (3-9) Monday and Gateway hosts South Marion (6-18). With wins, the Kowboys would play the Lake Buena Vista (12-8) vs. South Lake (9-11) winner on Tuesday and the Panthers would host the Lake Minneola (14-9) vs. Oak Ridge (4-7) victor.
Championship matches are at 7 p.m. Thursday on the home court of the highest remaining seed.
Osceola, which reached the three of the last four State Final Fours, graduated a ton of talent last year – including three players who went on to sign Division-1 scholarships. Still the Kowboys remained the team to beat, going 9-fourth setcounty opposition – although St. Cloud took them to five sets twice and Gateway saw a fourth set in the OBC Championship game.
“I am somewhat concerned with the intensity that we come out with to open some matches, but I like the way we are playing right now,” Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said. “We made an adjustment after the first couple of weeks in moving senior Brooklyn Sippio (387 kills) to the outside and that — along with the emergence of freshman Madison Sippio (230 kills) — has made us a much stronger team.”
Despite the graduation losses, Palmi noted that another extended run through the state tournament was certainly possible. “When we are playing our best, I think we can compete with any team in the state,” the veteran coach said.
Although they moved up a class, Heidi Lizardi’s Gateway club is just one win short of the 19 victories it had last season.
Regardless of how the season finishes for the Panthers, the future remains bright as its two kill leaders Anaya Reyes (332) and Sofia Brillon-Collazo (174) are just freshmen and assist leader Gabriela Alvarez-Herrera (470) is a sophomore.
Rounding out the county teams in action on Monday are Liberty (2-13) and Nova Lakes (6-10), who are No. 8 and No. 5 respectively in the 3A, District 6 Tournament. The Chargers will face top-seeded Lake Highland Prep (12-10); while the Rattlers travel to Four Corners (8-9). Palmi noted that Nova Lakes – which opened in September – was a competitive team in its first year. “For a first-year school with no senior class, they were pretty good,” Palmi said. “They took a set off of us the first time we played and were a pretty solid team.”
District Volleyball Schedule
Monday Quarterfinals, 7 p.m.
6A, District 7
Poinciana at St. Cloud
Celebration at Tohopekaliga
Harmony at Cypress Creek
Bye: Freedom
5A, District 6
Lake Weir at Osceola
Lake Buena Vista at South Lake
South Marion at Gateway
Oak Ridge at Lake Minneola
3A, District 6
Liberty at Lake Highland Prep
Nova Lakes at Four Corners
Discovery at Atlantic
Tenoroc at Montverde Academy
2A, District 6
New Dimensions at Windermere Prep
Mater Brighton Lakes Academy at Santa Fe
1A, District 7
City of Life Christian at Brevard HEAT
Tuesday Semifinals, 7 p.m.
Highest Remaining Seeds Host
District Championship Games, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Highest Remaining Seeds Host
