West Broward slips past Cypress Bay
Bobcats outlast Lightning, avenge 2 losses this season
WESTON West Broward volleyball coach Allison Reddish was on the first Bobcats volleyball team, and the last time she played in Cypress Bay’s gym was in a district championship game against the Lightning.
She lost.
On Tuesday, Reddish and her team got a victory over rival Cypress Bay, winning their Class 7A regional semifinal match 3-2 (23-25, 30-28, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13) in Weston.
“Coming back here on this field of play with that much at risk, the girls know it means a lot to them because we’ve got a reputation to protect,” Reddish said. “And it meant a lot to me because flashbacks, and I don’t want history to repeat itself.”
Tuesday’s match featured countless momentum swings and comebacks from both teams.
“It was stressful,” Reddish said. “The girls have had a lot of obstacles this year. We’ve had a lot of injuries, we’ve had a lot of illnesses, we’ve had some other obstacles that have come our way. But my girls were able to persevere.”
Cypress Bay (24-7) had West Broward’s number in the teams’ first two matches, sweeping both of them. The Lightning took the first set on Tuesday, too. But Reddish knew something was different.
“Yes, they swept us the two times that we played them in three sets,” Reddish said. “However, I think something really did change in the girls in the last week that caused them to really fight until the finish.”
The Bobcats did show that fight. Despite giving up a five-point lead in the first set, they pushed it to a 23-25 finish. In the second set, they came back from a 15-7 deficit to force a tiebreaker, winning the second set 30-28.
West Broward (18-8) trailed in the third set, too, before winning it. Cypress Bay took the fourth set, but the Bobcats took a big lead to start the decisive fifth set. They led 8-2 before the Lightning mounted a furious comeback, cutting West Broward’s lead to one before the Bobcats won 15-13.
Hope Passerello led West Broward with 20 kills, and Katelyn Varon led the team with 15 digs.
West Broward will play Miami Southwest in the regional finals.