Coral Shores improved to 9-4 last week, paving the way for a postseason run. After handing Mater Bay a 3-0 loss on the road last week, the Lady ’Canes were back at home in an all-out battle against Westwood Christian School on Sept. 28.
The Warriors entered the contest with six wins and proved their record was not a fluke in the back-and-forth gameplay, which took five sets to settle. The Hurricanes entered the game short-handed, without three of their key athletes. Sabina Naranjo, Lily Hitchcock and Violet Matthews were all unable to play in an emotional senior night that head coach Sam Ovalle and coach Jarrod Mandozzi will not soon forget.
Before the match, the Lady ’Canes honored senior captains Iona Holmquist, Crystal Gutierrez-Sandoval and Brooke Mandozzi, all four-year players in the program and key contributors for Coral Shores.
“I knew tonight was going to be an emotional night. These three girls mean so much to the program and me personally,” said Mandozzi. “They are our captains for a reason and they are all just such special young ladies and great leaders and examples for our younger girls.” Though he and Ovalle would have preferred a less formidable opponent for senior night, the athletes stepped up and took care of business, beating Westwood 3-2.
The Hurricanes won the first two sets, but Westwood battled back to tie it up 2-2. With the emotions of senior night and some less experienced players in the mix, Coral Shores could easily have let the game slip away, but instead, they regrouped and defeated Westwood with resolve in the final set.
“I’m just so proud of this team. We got great games from a number of our girls, starting with our seniors,” said Ovalle. “Sofia Jans played so well tonight for us at libero, and we did a good job of getting into our offense with Grace Leffler, Deandra and Brooke having great games tonight. This was Deandra’s best game so far for us. That’s exciting because she’s been working so hard and she can really add another dimension for us on offense.”
Coral Shores will be busy in the final week of regular season play, with two road games against Keys Gate and a rematch with Westwood, then a series of tournament action in Orlando at the Bishop Moore Swing for a Cure Varsity Invitational.
Marathon upped its record to 2-10 with a decisive win over Dade Christian School. The Fins made short work of the Crusaders at home on Sept. 25, sweeping the sets 25-11, 25-18 and 25-15.
Coach Kelley Cruz was impressed with the play of hitters Elena Eubank and Jasmine Keomaniboth, along with setter Jordan MacDonald. Cruz and the Lady Fins have been keeping their focus aimed at postseason play, which begins in Florida on Oct. 16.
“What kept us in the match was setting goals of what I would like to see in a district game,” Cruz said. The team rose to meet her expectations, and as they complete their regular season, Marathon will face both of its Keys rivals as well as Westwood Christian and Posnack School. With their play improving and their tempo picking up, the Fins have a great shot at improving their record further, just in time for districts.
Key West traveled to the Florida Christian Volleyball Tournament on Sept. 29 and 30. The Conchs lost both sets against True North Classical Academy on Friday night, then took on 5A Reagan High School on Saturday morning. Key West lost the first set, then dug deep and won the next two to defeat the Bisons. The 5-13 Conchs have continued to work against larger teams outside their district bracket in order to gain the experience necessary to compete at the highest level. They will find out whether the high-caliber regular season paid off beginning Oct. 12, as the 4A District 16 playoff bracket begins to determine a champion.
