Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Palm Beach Gardens advances to title match
For the first time in school history, the Palm Beach Gardens girls volleyball team will play for a state championship after defeating Southwest Miami 25-19, 27-29, 25-17, 25-21.
“It feels terrific, we set this as our goal and we’re here,” said first-year Gators coach Joy VanDyke. “It feels like this was meant to be.”
Palm Beach Gardens, who will face West Orange next Saturday for the 9A state title, won its 24th consecutive match by overcoming nerves throughout the state semifinal.
“I think we were a little bit nervous,” VanDyke said. “It was more about overcoming our nerves and the fear of making another error.”
The Gators were not the only nervous team as Southwest (10-5) committed 12 service errors.
Palm Beach Gardens (26-1) won the opening game 25-19 and jumped out to an early lead in the second game, however, the Eagles fought back to take a 13-8 lead, their largest lead of the match.
The game featured 10 ties and four lead changes before Southwest’s Amaya Morales spiked home the winning point, giving the Eagles the game 29-27 and evening the match.
In the third game, the Gators led by as many as 9 points before Southwest trimmed the score to 19-16 before the Gators finished the game on a 6-1 run to win 25-17.
Tied 13-13 in the fourth game, Palm Beach Gardens used a 4-0 run to grab a lead it would never relinquish.
The Gators were led by the sister duo of Maddie and Cassie Anderson. Maddie Anderson finished with 17 kills and 19 digs, while Cassie Anderson added 10 kills.