10-team event begins Monday
The first Orange Belt Conference tournament of the nine-school OBC era starts Monday with the volleyball tournament.
Osceola County Schools Athletic Director Ryan Adams added Four Corners Charter to make it a 10-team tournament with two brackets.
The tournament was seeded using the FHSAA’s state rankings through the first month of the season. Those rankings put Gateway (9-1) and St. Cloud (8-3) as the No. 1 and 2 seeds; they have byes into Tuesday’s semifinals.
“We’re a team that ‘s been building for a dozen years, and it’s looking great,” said GHS Coach Heidi Lizardi. We’ve earned the right to host this, and doing it this year with three freshmen and three sophomores on varsity.
“We’re not focused on who we might play or compare ourselves with anybody else, we focus on who’s on the other side of the net from us that night.”
Osceola (5-4), who’s won every tournament since they resumed after COVID-19, will have to win from the No. 3 seed if it is going to extend its string of titles. The Kowboys host Nova Lakes Monday at 7 p.m. The Kowboys took down the first-year Rattlers (5-6) in a four-set match on Aug. 27.
“I think it’s actually great we could get another game next week,” said OHS Coach Carrie Palmi, whose team advanced to the Class 7A Final Four the last two years but graduated the bulk of its team last season. “We’ve been battling, and still playing a tough schedule. But with the success we’ve had we still feel like we still have the bullseye on our backs.”
Tohopekaliga and Harmony will meet on Monday at 5 at OHS. On Tuesday at Gateway, St. Cloud will meet the Osceola/Nova Lakes winner at 5, and Gateway hosts the Toho/Harmony winner at 7. Those Tuesday winners will play for the OBC championship on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Gateway, following the third-place game among Tuesday’s losers.
Tuesday’s losers will play Wednesday at the site of the higher seed for fifth-place.
In the lower bracket, Poinciana and Four Corners will play at Celebration High on Monday at 5, followed by Celebration and Liberty at 7. The losers of those games play Wednesday at 5 for ninth place, followed by the winners at 7 for seventh place.
