Girls 9A volleyball championship is Oviedo’s 3rd state title in 9-day span

A critical moment in the second set swung the momentum Oviedo’s way, and the Lions used that spark to cruise to the Class 9A girls volleyball state championship on Friday.

The No. 1-ranked Lions defeated Palm Beach Gardens in straight sets by decisive scores of 25-17, 25-15 and 25-10 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers.

The victory capped a phenomenal fall sports spree of three state championships and a state runner-up finish in a span of nine days for Oviedo. The Lions won the FHSAA boys bowling state championship and were runners-up in girls bowling on Nov. 8, and won a boys state swimming team title last Saturday.

“My kids did a good job of maximizing our execution, minimizing our errors and taking advantage of every opportunity,” said Oviedo coach Jen Darty, who is also the beaming athletic director for the school. “Before the match we talked about enjoying the moment and not focusing on the end result. As long as we enjoyed the process we would be happy with the outcome.”

The second set appeared to play much like the early going of the first, a tight back-and-forth affair, until a ball hit by Palm Beach Gardens landed at the corner on the foot of an official. After a lengthy discussion, officials awarded the Lions the point.

That point gave them a 13-12 lead and started an 8-0 run for Oviedo (28-4). The Gators appeared to lose composure after that call, sending multiple balls well out of bounds, and driving the set point serve into the net.

“That’s when we took off,” Oviedo senior Savannah Vach said.

Vach led the Lions with 15 kills on a .565 attack percentage, and added 13 digs and two ace serves.

The Lions never trailed again as errors continued to mount for Gardens, which also finished 28-4. Trailing 10-5 in the third set, the Gators would lose five straight points on balls hit out of bounds, and though both teams wore orange, it was easy to tell by the body language who was in control.

Mikaela Schultz, a junior, had 10 kills in the victory, including the match point, a rally that lasted nearly 40 seconds.

Setter Madison Cook led the Lions with 19 assists. Lilly Gunter added 15 digs and Stephanie Geber contributed five blocks.

The volleyball championship is the second for Oviedo, which also prevailed in 7A in 2013. The Lions became the fourth different area school to wear the large-class crown in a span of six seasons — joining Winter Park (2013), Winter Springs (2015) and West Orange (2017).