By: J. Daniel Pearson
Posirtively Osceola
Regional volleyball started Wednesday night and both the Gateway Panthers and Osceola Kowboys rolled to impressive wins in Class 5A, Region 2 action.
The Panthers (21-3) — the region’s number two seed– overcame a feisty Winter Springs team in four sets, 25-15, 17-25, 25-15, 25-20; while over at Osceola gym, the top-seeded Kowboys rolled Melbourne in straight sets, 25-14, 25-12, 25-12.
The win puts both county teams at home at 2 p.m. Saturday, where Osceola (22-6) will host fourth-seeded Viera (19-9), a four-set winner over Lake Howell; while the Panthers will host Lake Minneola (18-10). That contest will be a rematch of a District 6 semifinal last week that Gateway won in five sets.
Should both the Panthers and Kowboys win on Saturday, they would play next Wednesday for a Region Championship and an appearance in the FHSAA Final Four.
Gateway got off to a fast-start in the Winter Springs match, building leads of five and then seven points, early. But a late rally closed the gap to two at 17-15 before a side-out gave the ball back to the Panthers and freshman Sofia Collazo served out eight strait points for the set.
During that run, Collazo posted two aces and Anaya Reyes – another freshman – had three of her six kills in the set.
Winter Springs would take the second set, before Gateway again asserted itself in the third. Using a 9-4 run at the start of the set and 5-0 streak midway through, the Panthers built an 18-13 lead and coasted home to win.
Looking to force a fifth set, the Bears jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the fourth, before Gateway fought back with a 7-3 run to close the gap to 14-13. A Reyes’ spike, followed by a ball handling error by the Bears, gave Gateway its first lead of the set at 17-16.
From there, Anaya Reyes (5 kills in set), her sister Ivana Reyes (4 kills) and Collazo (5 total kills in set) would dominate as the Panthers scored 19 of the final 29 points of the set for the win.
For the contest, Collazo 18 kills to go with her two aces. Ivana Reyes added 10 kills and an ace and Cristabella Santiago added four kills.
“Although they were seeded seventh, I knew they had played a tough schedule this year and had some talent, so we knew it was going to be a challenge tonight,” Gateway coach Heidi Lizardi said of the Bears, who dropped to 13-15. “But our girls have played a lot of volleyball together and understand what it takes to slow down the momentum of the other team. When we fell behind in the fourth set, we kept our poise and chipped away at them.”
The Kowboys (22-6) had little trouble with number eight seed Melbourne in winning their ninth straight match. The OBC and District champions got 15 kills and three blocks from senior captain Brooklyn Sippio, 8 kills and 3 blocks from Kimora Richardson and 20 assists and five aces from Natalya Turcios in the win.
“I was impressed with how well balanced our team was tonight against Melbourne,” Coach Carrie Palmi said. “It was smooth sailing the entire match because multiple players stepped up offensively. When everyone is firing on all cylinders like we were tonight, we can be a tough out.”
Still Palmi will not be looking past Viera, who defeated Lake Howell in four sets (25-13, 23-25, 25-10, 25-22). “Because of the schedule they played, Viera probably deserved to be seeded higher that fourth,” Palmi noted. “Although we did not play this season, we have played a lot of common opponents with very similar results. I anticipate a tough match-up and I’m hoping for a big crowd to show up and support us. Our fans can be a difference maker.”
