Classic win
Palm Beach Garden girls volleyball team taks a title.
LAKE WORTH — Palm Beach Gardens girls volleyball coach Joy VanDyke was right at home on Saturday at the Palm Beach Classic volleyball tournament at Lake Worth Christian.
VanDyke guided the Gators (18-1) to a 28-26, 25-21 victory over defending champion West Boca in the Gold Division Bracket championship, only fitting since she previously was an assistant at the school for 13 years with her mother Terri Kaiser before taking over the Gators program this season.
“When I coached here, it made me the greatest coach coaching with my mom,” VanDyke said. “It was the best experience of my life, but coaching this team, as talented as they are, I surprise myself every day. They make me a better coach. So winning this year is huge. This is my home and it just feels all the better.”
Palm Beach Gardens, which handed West Boca its first loss of the season last week, jumped out to a 20-14 lead in the first game before the Bulls (15-3) battled back to tie the match at 20-20. Both teams had game point in the first set before senior Taylor Burrell was just wide on a kill attempt as Gardens prevailed.
In the second game, sophomore Ashley Klein, who finished the day with 14 service points, served up six straight points to stake Palm Beach Gardens to a 6-0 lead. The Gators stretched the lead to 20-9 before West Boca clawed back to pull within 24-20. Gardens’ sophomore Anabelle Standish then hit a cross-court kill to give the Gators its first major title in school history.
“Today was huge, we worked together really well and the chemistry was great,” said Gardens’ senior Jada Bivins, who had nine service points, 14 assists and six digs. “This shows we have so much to work for and so much more we can do.”
Sisters Maddie and Cassie Anderson were also solid for the Gators. Maddie Anderson had 10 digs, 10 service points, eight kills and two blocks, while her sister Cassie contributed 15 digs, four kills and four service points. Both are committed to play beach volleyball at FSU next season. Hannah Heide, a sophomore, had 13 assists and two blocks.
West Boca, whose other loss this season was against Martin County earlier this week, was led by Mallory Barash with 24 assists, while Burrell and Paige Barash added 11 kills apiece.