Siebold’s 17 kills help Cypress Bay sweep Douglas

PARKLAND — Cypress Bay’s Colleen Siebold’s team-high 17 kills led the Lightning to a convincing 25-16, 25-15, 25-17 win over host Stoneman Douglas in a Region 3-9A girls volleyball semifinal Wednesday.

Despite Douglas (14-5) winning the opening point of all three games, Cypress Bay’s defense responded each time to slow the Eagles attack.

“The keys to our victory tonight were our serving and our defense,” Cypress Bay head coach Ore Pablos said.

Cypress Bay (19-5) used 6-0 runs in both of the first two games to take leads that the Lightning would not relinquish.

“We were able to keep them out of system, so they weren’t able to come back at us very strongly,” Pablos said. “We dominated in the front row.”

Stoneman Douglas led 13-11 in the third game until Siebold, a senior, had a pivotal kill to shift the momentum to the Lightning. Starting with Siebold’s kill, Cypress Bay ended the match on a 14-4 run.

“[Siebold] was amazing,” said Pablos. “Colleen is a big factor, we’re going to miss her next year.”

Lightning freshman Cecilia Robert-Rodriguez added 11 kills, including four crucial kills in the final half of the third game to help Cypress Bay advance to the regional final Tuesday versus Palm Beach Gardens.

PALM BEACH GARDENS 25-25-25, SPANISH RIVER 13-16-10: The sister tandem of Cassie Anderson and Maddie Anderson lifted the host Gators to a sweep as they cruised past past the Sharks 25-13, 25-16, 25-10 in a Class 9A regional semifinal.

Palm Beach Gardens (24-1) advanced to the regional finals Tuesday against Cypress Bay.

Palm Beach Gardens avenged a loss from last season to Spanish River in the regional quarterfinals.

“We did not know what to expect and we played very well,” Palm Beach Gardens coach Joy VanDyke said. “We were playing a good team and we played our game.”

Cassie and Maddie Anderson, who are both committed to Florida State University for beach volleyball, set the tone throughout the match. Cassie was featured as an outside hitter while Maddie controlled the match as a middle blocker.

“Cassie led our team in practice and then came ready to play,” VanDyke said. “Maddie really stepped up.”

After defeating Jupiter in a thrilling five-set match in the regional quarterfinals, the Sharks (13-9) were unable to overcome the Gators offensive attack.

Palm Beach Gardens has dropped just one set in their last three victories. The Gators had cruised past Jupiter with a sweep in the district championship. The Gators also defeated Park Vista in four sets in the regional quarterfinals.