By: J. Daniel Pearson
Osceola will have a shot at a state volleyball title.
The Lady Kowboys earned their way there Wednesday night by dominating Jupiter in the Class 7A, Region 2 Final in straight sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-13). In winning for the 17th time in their last 18 matches, Osceola went to 26-4 on the season and have not dropped a set in their five district and regional playoff matches.
The victory most likely puts Osceola in a Thursday (Nov. 6) semifinal game against Region 3 Champion Plant (18-8) or Regional 4 Champion Doral Academy (16-13), who upset a #1 seed in Cypress Bay.
The final brackets will be announced later this week, but in all likelihood Winter Park and Osceola will be the top two seeds and would not meet until the finals. Osceola does own a victory over Plant this year; while their last loss of the season came to #1 Winter Park – a five-set road thriller that went down to the wire in the final regular game of the season.
Just as it had done a week earlier against Vero Beach in the regional semifinals, the Lady Kowboys were sharp, relentless and efficient against Jupiter.
Cate Palmi (16) and Jordin Southall (13) combined for 29 kills to lead the way, although it was a total team effort as Sophie Spivey added nine kills and 10 digs, Brooklyn Sippio added five kills and two blocks, and Delaney Webb had 40 assists.
Defensively Priscilla Rada had 15 digs, Webb and Dari Bravo added 11.
“We wanted to spread it around tonight and we got major contributions from just about everyone. Our service and passing tonight was good; as was our offense and defense in general,” Coach Carrie Palmi said. “I just think we wanted it more.”
That was apparent from the start as Osceola jumped out to a 21-14 lead in the first set and never looked back.
They would got out to another big lead in the second set, but Jupiter – who came into the match with a 9-match winning streak – would not give up. The Warriors took advantage of a couple of Osceola return errors and a big block at the net by Grace Lovell to go on a 7-2 run to cut the Lady Kowboys lead back to 22-20.
Cate Palmi would put a quick end to that rally.
The three-time Osceola County Player of the Year recorded back-to-back kills and then on the next point sent a soft short pass out of the reach of Warrior defenders into the corner to close out the set.
After losing the initial point in Set 3, Osceola appeared headed for a rout by scoring eight straight points. Still, Jupiter had some fight left. A short spike attempt by Southall capped an 8-1 run by the Warriors, cutting the lead to 10-9.
It would end up being the last rally of the night for Jupiter. Spivey delivered back-to-back kills to spur a 3-0 spurt, as Osceola moved back on top by four. From there, Osceola would score nine of the next 10 to build the lead to 23-11. Following a side out, Palmi and Spivey would close the match out with kills.
Although Osceola advances to their third Final Four in the last four years, Coach Palmi says she senses something is different about this year’s team. “For lack of a better word they seem to have a little more killer instinct in them,” she said. “In years past, we would sometimes get lackadaisical when we got a lead and would let teams back into a match. Since the start of the playoffs this year, our focus has been razor sharp and hopefully it will continue next week at states.”
It was the final home for seniors Palmi, Southall, Spivey, Webb and Bravo. That class has accounted for three regional championships, a regional runner-up, and four district titles. The most successful 4-year period in Osceola volleyball, the team has gone 99-21 and never lost a match to a county opponent.
“It’s a special group,” Cate Palmi said. “We not only want to take the next step and reach the school’s first state final but we also want to win it.”
