Oviedo topples West Orange
Oviedo and West Orange have made a habit of meeting in the regional final round of the Florida High School Athletic Association girls volleyball Class 9A playoffs.
The Lions swept West Orange in 2016. A year ago, the Warriors got the better of Oviedo, winning 3-1 on the way to a state championship.
The rubber match took place Tuesday night in Winter Garden, with Oviedo (26-4) overcoming a boisterous home crowd for a 3-1 win and a second trip to the state semifinals in a span of three seasons.
Savannah Vach, a senior who has earned All-America honors, had 13 kills and 17 digs as Oviedo won by scores of 25-12, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18. Lilly Gunter delivered 23 digs and Rileigh Powers added 13 kills in the victory for a team that is ranked No. 1 in Florida by MaxPreps.
The Lions dominated the first set, but West Orange (21-7) battled back, taking the second set and then a 19-13 advantage in the third. Following a timeout, the Lions rallied, outscoring the Warriors 12-4 the rest of the way in a pivotal stretch.
Kaeli Crews had a gamehigh 21 kills to lead West Orange.
Oviedo, the Region 1 champion, will travel to play Region 2 winner Sarasota Riverview (23-6) on Saturday afternoon at 2 in a state semifinal. Hagerty falls to Tampa Plant: Camryn Vogler said she and her Tampa Plant teammates remembered losing in three sets to Hagerty in last year’s Class 8A, Region 2 volleyball final. Vogler and the Panthers used that defeat as fuel Tuesday night to defeat the Huskies 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 in a region title rematch.
Plant (26-1) will host Tallahassee Leon (27-3) in a state semifinal on Saturday.
Hagerty (25-5) battled but struggled when Plant wrestled the momentum away to close out each game. The Panthers finished off Game 1 with an 11-5 run, Game 2 with an 8-3 run and Game 3 with a 7-2 rally.
“Our passing and our defense were not up to par,” said Hagerty coach Juanita Hitt, who saw her team’s 14-match winning streak and banner season come to an end. “We did not pass well. There were a lot of defensive errors.”
Hagerty still posted 12 blocks overall, including five by junior Audrey Douglas.
Hagerty returns all but the three seniors. Top libero Haley Frank, Douglas and setter Emily Lawrence, who had nine assists, will likely lead the returnees.
Corina Dos Santos had 11 assists for Hagerty in her final match. Senior Morgan Romano had six kills and a block for the Huskies.