On Aug. 18, all three Monroe County varsity volleyball teams met in the Middle Keys to determine the season’s preliminary frontrunner this fall. More importantly, all three teams came away with a game plan heading into regular season play this week.
The first matchup would be a tough one for the Lady Fins of Marathon High. They faced Coral Shores, who beat the Dolphins on their home court, outscoring them 25-7 in the first set and 25-9 in the second.
In the second match of the night, the Hurricanes blew in strong against Key West, matching the Conchs point-for-point and forcing the match into overtime. Key West won 26-24 in the first extended set, then kept their momentum going into the second, winning that one 25-13.
The final match of the evening put Key West and Marathon on the court. Marathon played better against the Conchs, but it was not enough to beat Key West, which took the match in two sets and set the tempo for what should be a standout year for the Lady Conchs.
Marathon struggled to find its rhythm at times, with players working to develop a sense of cohesiveness in their game play. Many of the Lady Fins have new roles on the court this season, a challenge handed to them when most of their key players graduated last year. They had some bright moments in the matches, but the tournament mainly allowed head coach Kelley Cruz to flesh out her rotation starters and their positions.
Coral Shores’ second new coach of the season, Sam Ovalle, expressed pride in his team’s play and was able to “pick up on what we need to work on that will help us for the regular season.” The team played like a well-oiled machine against Marathon and was scrappy with Key West, showing great promise for its upcoming regular season. Ovalle was particularly impressed with the play of Brooke Mandozzi, who had seven aces in the tournament, Grace Leffler’s 11 kills, Kailee Reinoso’s 10 digs and Lana Teidemann’s 25 assists.
Key West didn’t just go home with two wins; head coach Sarah Eckert was able to ”identify several weaknesses to focus on and improve throughout the season.” Those weaknesses were not apparent to the crowd, as the Lady Conchs put up some impressive stats over the course of the tournament. Setter Victoria Pavlik had 27 assists, six digs and a block. Outside hitter Samantha Ventimiglia had 10 kills, four aces, 21 digs and two blocks. Elsie Warwick, another outside hitter, charted 11 kills, a block, three aces and eight digs of her own. Middle blocker Bridgette Sweney had nine kills, two blocks and three digs, and libero Emiri Ichijo put four assists, 18 digs, a kill and three aces into the stats book. Eckert is pleased with what she calls “a good foundation,” and will continue working on cohesiveness and advanced play this season.
Photos by Barry Gaukel. See more game photos at www.shadypalmphotography.com
