By: J. Daniel Pearson
Although winter sports teams have started practices and will open their regular season in a matter of days, several Osceola County public schools are seeing their fall teams still active and involved in state playoff action as we head into November.
Among the key upcoming events, Osceola’s volleyball team has advanced to the state Final Four, St. Cloud’s football team is looking for enough style points against Ridge Community to gain a playoff spot in the 7A playoffs; while both the Bulldogs boys’ and girls’ golf team have big regional tournaments today (Monday) as they attempt to qualify for the state championship.
Here is this week’s look around Osceola County in high school sports:
VOLLEYBALL
Osceola high will play for a state championship this weekend.
The Lady Kowboys (24-4) earned their way into the elite Final Four of Class 7A with an impressive 25-22, 25-15, 25-23 straight set win over Vero Beach (19-5) in last Wednesday’s Region 2 Final (Read about that match here: https://www.positivelyosceola.com/lady-kowboys-advance-to-state-final-four-after-dominating-win-over-vero-beach/ ). Reseeded #3 for the finals, Osceola will face number two Winter Park (26-1) in a 4 p.m. Friday semifinal at Polk State College in Winter Haven. With a victory, they would play the winner of #1 Plant (21-1) vs. #4 Boca Raton (15-6) for the 7A State Championship at 7 p.m. Saturday.
In Winter Park, the Kowboys will face a difficult but familiar opponent. A perennial state power, Wildcats have been ranked in the top three in the state all season across all classifications; while being ranked second in Class 7A behind Plant. They met the Kowboys in a regular season match on Sept. 25, winning in straight sets.
“There is no question they are a very athletic, deep, and talented team,” Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said. “I would like to think that right now we are playing better as a team than we were in that loss. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us. But if we keep our composure, play our game and stay aggressive, I feel we can compete with any team in the state.”
Since the Winter Park loss, Osceola had been undefeated and has not lost a set in winning nine straight matches.
Led by juniors Amelia Mancino (275 kills) and Isa Umpierre (265 kills), Winter Park features a deep lineup that includes five different players who have recorded 100 or more kills each this season. Junior defensive specialist Paige Lehman (10.6 digs per match and middle blocker Amber McCain (49 total blocks) lead the defense; while Tyler Peluso is an outstanding ball handler with 735 assists.
Osceola counters with the solid one-two punch of outside hitters Cate Palmi (413 kills) and Jordin Southall (413 kills). But coach Palmi knows she will also need big games from junior OH Sophie Spivey (146 kills) and sophomore middle blocker Brooklyn Sippio (136 kills, 56 total blocks); as well as the defensive presence of Dari Bravo (274 digs) and solid play from setter Andrea Rodriguez (898) in order to stay with the Wildcats.
The key to an Osceola may very well come down to service game.
Led by Rodriguez (80) and Cate Palmi (61), the Lady Kowboys have four different players that have recorded 40 or more service aces this season. “The service game has been an important aspect of our attack all season. Getting an ace is big, but those good, hard driving serves that don’t fall make it difficult for the receiving team to set up an offensive attack,” Coach Palmi added. “After a hard serve, if the receiving team is using their third hit to just get the ball back over the net, it can almost be as effective as an ace.”
This will be Osceola’s second return to the final four in the last three years. The Lady Kowboys took a regional title in 2022, but fell just one match short of making the championship match –dropping a five-set decision to Hagerty. Regardless of the outcome, this has been a remarkable three-year run by the Kowboys, who have collected three district championships two regional titles, and a regional runner-up trophy while going 74-16 in that time frame.
FOOTBALL
The FHSAA Playoffs were slated to start this week, but Hurricane Milton pushed them back one week to allow for teams to play make-up games postponed by the storm. Many teams elected to play two games in one week to finish on time; while other opted to use the additional week to make-up games.
The most significant of those contests come on Wednesday night, when St. Cloud (5-4) hosts Davenport Ridge (5-3). St. Cloud (which was idle last week) is currently ranked number eight in the Class 7A, Region 3 and look to claim the final playoff spot in that regional. While that may change when the new ranking come out Tuesday, it is interesting to note that Tohopekaliga (5-4) is currently ranked ninth in the region. The Tigers concluded their regular season last week with a 42-0 win over Avon Park. Tohopekaliga’s hurricane opponent Masters’ Academy –an FHSAA Independent – is involved in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference Playoffs this week, so that contest was cancelled.
A win against Davenport would solidify its hold on the playoff spot, but a loss could make it interesting. Although St. Cloud’s 31-24 head-to-head win over Tohopekaliga (5-4) could keep them ranked above the Tigers, the quirky nature of the computer polls doesn’t guarantee anything with a Bulldog loss to Ridge.
Osceola (8-2) finished its regular season with a thrilling 28-22 win over St. Petersb0urg Lakewood, where they took a 21-0 lead at halftime but needed a dramatic goal line stand in the final minute to preserve the win (read about that game here: https://www.positivelyosceola.com/osceola-kowboys-hold-off-late-lakewood-spartans-drive-to-secure-thrilling-28-22-victory/ ).
The Kowboys will most likely finish second in the Class 6A, Region 2 and will host a first round playoff game on Friday, Nov. 15 at Markus Paul Stadium.
Poinciana (6-3) dropped a tough 27-20 game to Timber Creek on Friday, but still has a chance to reach seven wins for just the second time in school history when they play a make-up game on Wednesday against Auburndale (6-3).
Celebration (3-7) and Gateway (4-6) played each other in their season finales on Friday, with the Storm pulling out a 21-14. Both teams were much –improved this year. The Storm, despite three one-score losses in 2024, improved their win total after going 1-9 in the previous two years; while the Panthers reached four victories for the first time since 2018 (5-6). Harmony (3-7) closed out its campaign with a solid 37-6 win over Colonial; Liberty (2-7, 3-6) closes out its season with a make-up game Wednesday night at East River (5-4).
GOLF
After runner-up finishes last week in districts (read story here: (https://www.positivelyosceola.com/st-cloud-golfs-runner-up-district-finishes-send-them-through-to-regional-championships/ ), both the St. Cloud boys and St. Cloud girls teams will be in regional action today (Monday).
The St. Cloud boys will need a top two finish at the Class 3A, Region 2 Championship at Stoneybrook West County Club to advance to the state championship. Led by senior Espn Pool and freshmen Arnold Pouncy and Dominick Velazquez, the St. Cloud boys feature a team with four players capable of shooting around par which should make them a strong contender to advance.
In addition to the St. Cloud boys team, Tohopekaliga’s Nick Lehto advances to regionals as an individual.
The Lady Bulldogs have made it to the state championship tournament three consecutive years. Due to graduation of several key players, the team is not as strong as a year ago but still has the potential to make to states behind junior Karolyna Adams and freshman Maddie Burda. The Lady Bulldogs will play in the Region 2 Championship at Royal St. Cloud today (Monday). Should they advance, they will become the first golf team (boys or girls) from Osceola County to make it to the state championship four years in a row.
CROSS COUNTRY
Thanks to a fourth place team finish (129 points), the Gateway boys cross country team earned a trip to the Class 3A, Region 2 Championships scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7 at Fred Poppe Park in Satellite Beach, Fla. The Panthers placed three runners in the top 40 at the District 3 meet in Melbourne last Thrusday. Santiago Rodriguez led the way with a 19th place finish in a time of 18:11.50; while Langston Carry also logged a top 25 finish in 18:22.4.
Madison Carty won the 5K in 16:33.4, as Satellite High runners finished 1-2-3 in the race to run away with the team title with 24 points.
At the 4A, District 3 meet at Osceola High on Saturday, both the St. Cloud boys and girls teams, as well as individuals Levi Lee and Omar Garcia from Poinciana advances to next week’s Region 3 Championship at the Bolles School in Jacksonville.
The St. Cloud girls snagged the 8th and final automatic qualifying spot with a team score of 229. They had two top 25 finishers in Lailana Decker (11th) and Kyla Perez (25th). In addition, with a 20th place finish overall, Osceola’s Mia Gonzalez-Nunez snagged one of four at-large individual spots to next week’s regional.
With three top 10s, East Ridge (64) won the district title and Lake Minneola (100) was second in the 21-team field. Celebration (11th-295), Harmony (12th-330), Osceola (14th-396) and Tohopekaliga (16th-411) saw their seasons come to an end.
In the boys’ race, St. Cloud (182) advanced to regionals with a seventh place finish with Isaiah Casiano (18th place), Adon Elienist (27th), Brody Ansbaugh (34th), Luis Rivera (43rd) and Silas Corchado (62nd) posting counting scores for the Bulldogs.
Poinciana standout and OBC champion Lee posted a fifth place overall and teammate Garcia (46th overall) each grabbed one of the four individual at-large spots to next week’ Region 1 Championship.
SWIMMING
Celebration’s Walter Zeman and Harmony’s Aaron Stephenson are headed to the FHSAA Class 4A Swimming Championships next Saturday (Nov. 9) at the FAST Swimming Complex in Ocala, Fla. Zeman gained automatic advancement to the state finals via second place finishes in both the 50 (20.50) and 100 free (45.53) at Region 2 Championships; while Stephenson qualified automatically with a second place finish in the 200-IM (1:59.40).
They will most likely not be the only representatives from the county. While the top two finishers in each relay and individual event automatically qualify, the next best 16 times in each event across all regions also advance to create a final field of 24.
Celebration’s Mahmoud Morsy (3rd-100 Fly,3rd-100-back), Stephenson (3rd-100 Breast) and the Celebration 400-free relay team (4th) may also make it through when the final field is announced on Monday.
Team-wise, Windermere swept both the boys (418) and girls (515.5) team titles. Celebration girls (69-12th place) and boys (149-8th) where the top Osceola County finishers. Harmony was 10th in boys and 13th in girls; while St. Cloud was 14th (G) and 11th (B).
