Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas wins Florida 6A girls volleyball state championship

WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA – St. Thomas Aquinas got revenge, a state championship and a seventh title for its head coach Lisa Zielinski at the FHSAA girls volleyball state championships Thursday at Polk State College.

St. Thomas turned back Viera 3-1 to capture the Class 6A crown, and it was done at the hands of the team which eliminated the Raiders in the state semifinals a year ago. The last previous St. Thomas' title was 2018. 

“How exciting it is and what a big deal it is getting to that No. 7,” Zielinski said. “After COVID it was hard getting back into things, but I knew I had a team with energy, drive and talent. We had a lot of injuries and a lot to overcome.

“They have this cohesiveness, and they play so well together. They just have a real passion for the game they share. The season is long and grueling, and you can’t do this if you are not 100 percent in it for your team. These kids are all in and don’t complain.”

The Raiders won the first set 27-25, lost the second set 20-25 and then won 27-25 and 26-24 to capture the title.

“We put in blood, sweat and tears to win this,” senior outside hitter Sydney Van Cott said. “I definitely think that we deserve it. We were definitely coming back for revenge. We wanted to do it in three sets, but a state champ is a state champ.”

St. Thomas was led by Van Cott with 13 kills and six digs while Zori Brown dished out 10 kills with 15 digs. Senior outside hitter Zoe Taylor had 12 kills and five digs and Halley Tang had 14 digs.

“I am so happy to be a state champion," said Taylor, who will sign with LSU Thursday to play beach volleyball. “We came up here with one goal. We wanted to get our job done and we did that. We did it. We won.”

Zielinski has rolled up 894 wins, seven state championships, 15 regional titles and 32 district championships for St. Thomas over 36 seasons.

“We always stress play with urgency,” Zielinski said. “We’ve won some titles and lost some, but you just have to play with that urgency, but under control. I don’t think it is easy for kids to do.”

Viera was led by Isabella Starck with 28 kills and 10 digs while Sophia Jones had 12 kills and 13 digs.

“I am proud of how we fought. The three sets they won, they won by three points. So, it was super close,” Viera head coach Sarah Wayne said. “All season long we had efficient offense and just a boost of senior leadership.”

Tampa Carrollwood Day holds off Westminster for Class 3A crown

Carrollwood Day topped Westminster Christian 3-1 to capture the Class 3A state championship. After losing the first set 23-25,  Carrollwood won the next three 23-25, 19-25 and 27-29.

Carrollwood Day head coach Doug Chinchar said the fourth-and-deciding set was the most-intense he has ever seen as a coach. 

“Absolutely, and then you live and die with every play,” Chinchar said. “But I will tell you what, we never let them get the lead. Whenever they tied it, we were able to get that next point.

“This was nothing we hadn’t seen before. The divisions we play in with 3A, prepares us for this. We were ready. When we lost our first (set) there was no doubt we weren’t coming back.”

Carrollwood was led by freshman outside hitter Lydia Chinchar with 35 kills and 19 digs. Junior libero Mattea Casale added 25 digs

The game-winning point was elusive for Carrollwood Day (31-2), which took a 1-point lead five times, before finally shaking a resilient Westminster (24-9) squad.

“They had the game point, and I told my teammates, ‘It is not over. We pushed all the way here not for this to end right now,’” said Westminster junior Zoey Matias, who dished out 23 kills with 19 digs. “After they made a point, we didn’t get down on ourselves. We just kept pushing because we knew we could do it.”

Westminster Christian finished as state runners-up for the fifth consecutive season. Westminster sophomore outside hitter Gigi Artiles led the effort with 26 kills and 22 digs.

“I thought we worked hard and did everything we could do,” said Westminster head coach Julie Doan Kurenuma, who has been the head coach for 19 seasons. “We always try to make adjustments the whole match, to defend better and score better based on what they are doing. And they were good."

Westminster sophomore outside hitter Gigi Artiles led the effort with 26 kills and 22 digs.

Middleburg wins 5A state championship, shuts out Barron Collier

WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA – Middleburg rolled into Class 5A girls volleyball state championships and came away with the state title Thursday after turning back Naples Barron Collier 3-0 in the title match.

It was the first state championship for Middleburg, which won 25-23, 25-17 and 25-23, and it was guided by a first-year head coach, Meredith Forkum. Middleburg lost in the first round of the regionals last year.

“We knew it was going to be a battle, so we just stayed calm and fought with everything the whole entire match. They took care of business,” Forkum said. 

Aisha Keric led Middleburg with 27 kills – nine in the first set, six in the second and 12 in the clincher – to go along with 17 digs. Ashley Giraldo added 30 digs and Charlotte Mongin had 15.

“It is hard to stop our big guns when they are playing well,” Forkum said. “We knew all four teams that (came to) state were really, really good. We knew we could do it though. We played some very good teams this season. We knew if we played like we could, we would get it done. The kids just stayed composed and our serve receive did well.”