Well-connected Westminster Christian advances to state beach volleyball final
At every opportunity, Westminster Christian's beach volleyball players yelled 'together' or 'connected.'
Those have been the buzzwords that have helped carry the Warriors (18-0) within one win of their first official state championship as well as an undefeated record.
On Friday morning in Tallahassee, the Warriors defeated Episcopal School of Jacksonville, 5-0, in a Class 1A state semifinal.
Westminster Christian, the No. 1 team in the state, will play third-ranked Tampa Berkeley Prep (21-0) for the title on Saturday at 8 a.m.
Warriors coach Sylvia Guso – a former volleyball standout at the University of Miami – said it was hard to find fault with any of her players regarding their performance on Friday.
'We played great,' Guso said. 'We've been working on a lot of things in practice such as defense and attacking, and our girls really executed.'
Westminster Christian's first four pairings all won in straight sets. In order, one through four, that's: Zoey Matias and Gigi Artiles; Alex Washington and Lia Gonzalez; Alyana Cadavid and Cassie Thomas; and Coco Garcia and Dani Arroyo).
At No. 5, Westminster's Frenchie Pazmino and Lauren Palczynski won in three sets: 21-7, 17-21, 15-8.
'The whole idea is that we're playing for something bigger than just ourselves,' Guso said, 'and that's where the words 'together' and 'connected' come from.'
THIS AND THAT
▪ The Palmetto Panthers, who won a state title in flag football last year, lost on Friday night, 7-0, to Alonso in a Class 4A state semifinal in Tampa.
Palmetto (16-4) allowed a touchdown on the opening drive by Alonso (19-2). After that, however, Palmetto's defense came up with four interceptions – two by Bianca Pacheco-Perez and one each by Francesca Lara and Canai Moore.
'Our defense played lights out,' Palmetto coach Kevin Mujica said. 'But we struggled to make plays on offense, and we took a lot of sacks.'
▪ St. Thomas Aquinas lost to Jupiter 3-0 in the Class 3A beach volleyball state semifinals on Friday night in Tallahassee. Jupiter (15-1) is ranked fourth in the state. Aquinas, ranked 13th, ended its season with a 19-5 record.
▪ In boys' basketball, Miami High's five starters and two top reserves have earned college scholarships. The list includes: Romari Robinson (Sacramento State); Aaron Richard (Chipola); Joseph Jean (Eastern Wyoming); Absalon Cortes (Holy Trinity); Joseph Murillo, Miguel Charles and Eddy Bonilla (Florida Memorial).
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