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Seacrest starts state title defense with easy win in 2A regionals

The Stingrays have nearly everyone back from last year's champ
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NAPLES, FLORIDA -- The Seacrest Country Day girls volleyball team started its title defense looking every bit like a state champion.

It's no surprise the Stingrays started this year's playoffs looking as dominant as last year's. After all, Seacrest (22-4) had back nearly every single player from the team that won the Class 2A championship in 2021.

On Tuesday, Seacrest made quick work of Lakeland-Victory Christian in the Class 2A-Region 3 quarterfinals. A combination of precise serving and powerful offense guided the No. 1 seed Stingrays to a 25-9, 25-13, 25-13 win.

Carole Ann Hussey, one of five seniors on Seacrest, said the bond the team forged in winning state has made them strong this year.

"We want to play a game where people go out and say, 'Seacrest is a great team not only because of their connection, but because of their love for this sport,'" the Stingrays' middle blocker said. "I had a great connection with my setter tonight, and I'm really really lucky for that. I just hope we keep playing with the same intensity and same love for the sport as we did last season."

Seacrest jumped on Victory Christian early. Brooke Spurgeon served two straight aces to start the game. The first set also ended on an ace, this time by Alexa Haley, as the Stingrays had eight aces in the opening from.
Led by four aces a piece from Spurgeon and Sophia Caruso, Seacrest finished with 18 as a team. However, the Stingrays are always looking to improve.

"We would like to limit our misserves," Hussey said. "Even though we had a good amount of aces tonight, that might not be the case the next couple of games. We really need to have our serves to the point where they're rockets and you can't stop them."

Breanah Rives added 18 kills to her all-time Florida high school record. The Seacrest senior set the state record for career kills in the district championship game, and she now has 2,072 in six varsity seasons.

However, the Stingrays are much more than Rives. Hussey added seven kills, including two big ones late in the third and deciding set.

Sophomore Samantha Soderlund and freshman Adriana Garcia also had big swings to take the offensive pressure off Rives.

"The greatest thing about this team is that you can rely on every hitter here to put the ball away," Hussey said. "That's what's so special about this team. That comes with connection."

Haley led Seacrest with 16 digs, while Caruso added 19 assists.

Victory Christian (9-18) didn't go down without a fight. The Storm showed the tenacity that led them to a district championship and a regional berth despite ending the regular season with just six wins.

The Storm led 6-5 early in the second set before Seacrest pulled away. Victory Christian then led 5-4 in the third set before a big Stingrays run.
Kaylie Whittenton had a few big kills from the Storm, while Kelly Ortiz made nice plays and Alaina Fountain served an ace.