St. Thomas in 8A final

When St. Thomas took the court for Saturday’s state volleyball semifinal matchup against Venice, it was missing its leader.

Head coach Lisa Zielinski was not in the gym. She was in Gainesville, where her son, Zachary, was having surgery.

“She’s such a big part of this team,” senior Sophia Davis said. “We do everything for her. Her not being here today, we knew we had to step it up as a team and be together as a team because our coach isn’t here.”

The team rallied in her absence, beating Venice 25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21 to earn a spot in the Class 8A state title match. The Raiders got their revenge after the Indians knocked them out of the postseason in the state semifinals last year.

“It was really tough,” said Heather Trebbiea, who filled in for Zielinski. “But I have to say, they were so prepared. She did such a great job preparing them for this moment.”

The Raiders took the first set from the Indians with an eight-point margin, but no game would be as easy as that.

Venice stuck with St.

Thomas through a tight second game, then jumped out to a 19-12 lead in the third game. The Raiders fought back and got within two points, but the Indians won that game to avoid the sweep. The fourth game was another close one, with St. Thomas and

Venice being tied at 18 at one point. But clutch late kills by senior Paige Barash, who led the Raiders with 18 kills, helped secure the final 25-21 victory.

“I just trusted my teammates,” Barash said. “We’re a family, so I just trusted them. I wanted to do everything

for them.”

St. Thomas will face Tampa Plant in the state championship match Thursday at 7 p.m. at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.