It was another dominating year on the volleyball court for Osceola High. The Kowboys went 24-5 and reached the Class 7A Final Four. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Lady Kowboys dominate the All-County Team, and that junior hitter Cate Palmi is the Osceola News-Gazette Girls Volleyball Player of the Year for the third time (she was Co-Player of the Year with Alex Liggeri as a freshman before winning it outright as a sophomore), earned while continuing to pile up huge statistics.
She finished the year with 436 kills, a .424 hitting percentage (think baseball where anything above .300 is pretty awesome), 69 service aces and 19 blocks. Although she still has another year of high school left, she has already committed to play Division-I volleyball at the University of South Florida.
“It’s a great honor but to be totally honest it would not be possible without my teammates,” Palmi said. “It is such a team sport and if everybody on the court is not on the same page, it’s impossible to be successful. To me, these awards are never individual awards, they are team awards.”
Cate Palmi’s three-year rise as one of the region’s best coincides with Osceola’s dominance at the county level and its deep runs in the state playoff. Since her freshman year, the Lady Kowboys are 75-12 overall, 26-0 against county opposition, have won three OBC titles, three district championships, two regional titles and have made it to the FHSAA Final Four twice. With 1,543 career kills, she is just 37 short of the school and county record held by her big sister Allison Palmi who recorded 1,580 from 2016-19. The rising senior says the next goal is logical.
“I certainly want to help take it a step or two further next year and win a state title,” she says. “My freshman year we made it to the Final Four, but it wasn’t a Final Four setting like it was this year at Polk College. It was a different feeling and I thought we made some mistakes in that semifinal match that we should not have. We will be a senior-dominated team next year and hopefully we can use the experience from this year’s disappointment to get over the hump.”
When Palmi talks about the importance of her teammates, she means it. The Lady Kowboys were stacked with talent at all positions, including junior outside hitter Jordin Southall– who could have easily won Player of the Year honors in her own right.
Playing on the opposite side of Palmi, Southall recorded 359 kills, 175 digs and 57 service aces this year. Her hitting percentage was a stellar .317 and she recorded 19 blocks.
“Having Jordin on the opposite side certainly helped Cate become a better player because it made our opponents worry about defending two great players,” Coach Carrie Palmi said of the Vanderbilt commit. “To me, they were Co-Players of the Year.”
Counting Palmi and Southall, the Lady Kowboys place six on the All-County team. Joining those two are Sophie Spivey, Andrea Rodriguez, Dari Bravo and Brooklyn Sippio. Rodriguez led the county in assists (951), had 80 service aces and 97 digs. Spivey also hit over .300 with 152 kills and 41 service aces; while middle blocker Sippio, a 6-4 sophomore, had 147 kills and led Osceola with 56 total blocks. Defensive specialist Bravo was both the ONG and OBC Coaches choice for All-County Libero.
It was Coach Palmi’s third consecutive News-Gazette Coach of the Year award and the 12th time she was named OBC Coach of the Year. The 20-year veteran has posted four consecutive 20wins seasons and seven in the last eight years.
All-County Volleyball
Player of the Year: Cate Palmi, Jr., Osceola
Coach of the Year; Carrie Palmi, Osceola
All County Team:
Osceola: Dari Bravo, Andrea Rodriguez, Brooklyn Sippio, Jordin Southall, Sophie Spivey
Harmony: Adriana Amy, Alana Asante, Kinzie James
St. Cloud: Karly Kuchinskas
Tohopekaliga: Maria Colon, Amayaiza Jordan,
