Lake Nona volleyball wins behind Emma Gongora's 18 kills

WINDERMERE, FLORIDA – Lake Nona wanted to prove it could win away from home. Emma Gongora made sure the short-handed Lions accomplished the task Thursday.

Gongora had a match-high 18 kills and three aces to help the Lions oust Windermere 17-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 in a possible regional tournament preview.

“Emma was great,” said Lake Nona setter Alexandra Pantano. “Just kill after kill after kill, she found holes. She found seams in the block. She was hot. I had to keep setting her.”

Lake Nona (12-5, No. 9 in the FHSAA Class 7A rankings) will play the Metro East tournament against the Jones-Boone winner on Friday. Then the Lions, who reached the 2020 7A final and 2021 region semifinals, will wait to discover who it opens against in District 6-7A play. That tournament gets underway with quarterfinal matches on Monday, with Lake Nona expected to earn a bye into Tuesday’s semifinals.

“We’re going to be ready after two wins against a great program like Windermere,” Yeyo Rodriguez said.

The Lions took control with strong serving and a multifaceted attack. Gongora led three Lions with nine kills. Anna Pantano had 13 kills.

“Any time you have two players in double-figures (in kills) and one with nine, that’s good,” Rodriguez said. “Our setters do a great job distributing the ball.”

Freshman Myah Misra had nine kills for Lake Nona. Misra was filling in for sister Katrina Misra, who suffered an ankle injury in Tuesday’s victory over Windermere

Alexandra Pantano has taken Myah Misra under her wing. “I believe in her so much, and I keep making sure she knows that, that she believes in herself,” Alexandra Pantano said.

Lake Nona shared the setting load. Alexandra Pantano had 21 assists, while Claudia Melendez had eight assists, Gianna Mora had seven assists and Jarielys Giraud had five assists. All of them were filling in for senior setter Alana Baerga, who missed the match with an illness.

Windermere (9-10), a 2020 region semifinalist and 2021 7A finalist, will open District 5-7A tournament play on Monday at home against Oak Ridge. The Wolverines share a district with 10th-ranked Olympia, 23rd-ranked Boone, 8-4 Freedom and 7-3 Celebration.

Wolverines setter Isabel Mulita spread the attack, as well. Mulita had a match-high 33 assists. Senior Ashley Lunt led Windermere with 11 kills, while birthday girl Alicia Marti and Rebecca McGuire had nine kills each and Natasha Ruiz had eight kills each.

A five-point run gave Windermere enough breathing room in the first set, turning a 13-10 lead into an 18-10 edge. Kills by Natasha Ruiz and Ashley Lunt mixed in with three Lake Nona errors in the run. Birthday girl Alicia Marti ended the 25-17 first-set win with a back-row kill.

Windermere struggled at inopportune times in the last three sets.

“They had better control of the first contact, which made them play a little faster,” Windermere coach Daniel Fuentes said. “And we weren’t able to match their pace.”

The Lions jumped to an 8-1 second-set lead off Alexandra Pantano’s serve. She had an ace and three assists during that run. The Wolverines fought back to snag a 17-16 lead after a five-point run. But two Gongora kills and a ball-handling error put Lake Nona up 20-17, and the Lions never trailed.

Claudia Menendez served two aces during a 5-0 run in the third set that gave Lake Nona a 21-14 lead. Anna Pantano capped the third set with a kill.

“Our coach gives us a great game plan,” Anna Pantano said. “We come in knowing our spots. We come in ready to play any part of the court. As long as we hit our spots, we’re good.”

Windermere’s struggles handling Alexandra Pantano’s helped Lake Nona take a 4-0 fourth-set lead. The Lions allowed Windermere to get no closer than two points the rest of the way. Lake Nona had four aces in the final set, and Ella McDonald capped the match with a kill. Windermere challenged at the end, getting four points off Reese Burry’s serve to cut the lead to 24-22.

Both Lake Nona and Windermere will look to advance deep in their district tournaments. The Lions entered today’s play ranked No. 2 in Region 2-7A, trailing only District 6 foe Osceola.

Windermere also trails district foe Olympia and District 7-7A teams Jupiter and Fort Pierce Central. The Wolverines also will face a challenge from district foes Dr. Phillips and Freedom. One of the three District 5 teams could be left out, because a lower-ranked District 8 champion will likely knock out the region’s eighth-ranked team.

“I think, No. 1, we take the good competition from Lake Nona and we learn from that,” Fuentes said. “I prepare them at a high level to compete for next week. The teams we have in district, we’ve faced them already. We’ll go back and watch videos and make adjustments, but playing at that level with that great team (Lake Nona) is just beneficial.”