Oviedo’s Vach volleyball national player of year

Do-it-all senior Savannah Vach of Class 9A girls volleyball state champ Oviedo became just the second Florida girl to be named National Senior Player of the Year by PrepVolleyball.com.

“It’s an incredible honor for Savannah, it’s an in honor for our program and our school,” said Oviedo coach Jen Darty. “She worked hard all year, every single day, on the court, in practice, in team meetings, in everything she did for us.”

Vach led the Lions in kills with 417 and was second on the team in assists (516), defensive digs (348) and ace serves (30), while standing third in blocks (55).

Vach signed with Miami and completed high school in December to enroll early. She started college classes on Monday.

“I expect her to make a big impact early on,” Darty said. “She has the ability to be a game-changer for that program.”

The only previous Florida girl named PrepVolleyball senior of the year — an honor that dates to 2000 — was Bishop Moore’s Lindsey Owens for the 2012-13 season. Owens played collegiately for Virginia Tech.

Wrestling for state berths: The eight berths for next week’s FHSAA state wresting duals championships in Kissimmee are on the line in region tournaments on Thursday.

Freedom, the Class 3A, District 4 champion, will host three of the top teams in the area with 3A-3 champion Winter Springs and runner-up Hagerty joining the Patriots and Timber Creek.

Each region will have two quarterfinal duals starting at 6 with the winners then facing off in a region semifinal match. Those winners will advance to region finals next weekend as part of the state duals tournament, Jan. 25-26, at Osceola High School.

West Orange, the 3A-2 champ, is hosting tonight the Warriors and rival Windermere joined by state power Fleming Island and Gainesville Buchholz.

Two other 3A teams are heading out of area with 3A-5 champ Osceola and Celebration competing at Strawberry Crest.

Harmony hosts a 2A tournament that includes New Smyrna Beach, Springstead and Belleview.

Last year's 1A state champion Lake Highland Prep will compete at Space Coast and should continue its march toward another title.

The state duals series is in its second year as an FHSAA-sponsored event.

Highlanders impress: Lake Highland Prep took its talents to the Windy City and moved up in the national wrestling rankings by winning the first-ever Beat the Streets Brawl wrestling tournament at Oak Park River Forest High School outside Chicago.

The Highlanders topped two teams ranked higher in the country in the process.

“I think the kids are just prepared and are fit and have the mindset of finishing in the top five in the country and never gave up on it,” Highlanders head coach Mike Palazzo said.

Lake Highland, ranked ninth nationally by FloWrestling heading into the weekend, topped fifth-ranked Bergen Catholic of New Jersey 39-29 in the final match to finish the day 4-0. The Highlanders also scored a 31-30 victory over No. 4 Montini Catholic of Illinois.

The title moved Lake Highland to fourth in the country with most of the national in-season tournaments completed.

Danny Nini (106 pound weight class), Nic Bouzakis (120), Justin Rivera (132⁄138), Chris Rivera (138⁄145), Kai Bele (160⁄170), and Logan Andrew (195⁄220) all finished 4-0 on the day for the Highlanders.

Umatilla has new coach, again: Tavares assistant Charlie Cerney has accepted the Umatilla football head coaching position, which opened again when Zac Carter initially accepted the job but then opted out to remain at Lake Mary Prep.

Cerney will finish the school year coaching track and field at Tavares.

“It’s going to be a little logistically crazy for me this semester, but we’ll get through it,” Cerney said.

He takes over a program that has gone 1-28 over the past three seasons.

TV time: Montverde Academy (10-2) has two national TV games at this weekend’s Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. The Eagles play Imhotep Charter (10-4) of Philadelphia on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+) and Sierra Canyon (20-1) of California on Monday afternoon at 3 (ESPNU).

The Eagles host their Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament next week, Thursday through Saturday. That eightteam field includes three nationally-ranked teams, Montverde, Wasatch Academy (18-0) of Utah and Rancho Christian (17-2) of California; along with Long Island Lutheran (11-1), 2018 Florida state champs Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy (17-3) and Miami Christian (13-6), and Villages Charter (10-3), which has UF signee point guard Tre Mann.

Hoops happenings: Daytona Beach Mainland improved to 20-1 with 19 consecutive boys basketball victories with a 63-50 homecourt win over Orlando Christian Prep (11-3) on Tuesday night. The Buccaneers’ lone loss was against Edgewater (12-5) in overtime in a semifinal game at the Rotary Tip-Off Classic at Winter Park.

OCP plays visiting Mount Dora Christian (16-2) on Thursday night at 7:30. That’s a rematch of last seasons Class 3A, District 3 tournament final and both teams are unbeaten in league play this season.

Also Thursday, Sentinel Super 16 No. 13 Leesburg (11-4, 5-1 in 6A, District 13) is at No. 3 Bishop Moore (15-1, 5-0). The Hornets won at Leesburg last month.

Windermere High (14-2) senior center Dakota Rivers had 32 points in a 77-51 win over Hagerty on Tuesday.

Metro vs Florida is on: The ninth Metro vs. Florida Challenge basketball event tips off with three games Thursday night at Apopka High School.

The showcase, moved to Martin Luther King Jr. weekend this year, pits schools from the Metro Conference vs. teams from outside that tradition-rich Orange County public school league. There are 19 boys games over four days, plus an Apopka vs. Wekiva girls game, which will be played on Friday night.

Admission is $10 per day or $15 for a tournament pass.