The Seminole Ridge High School boys varsity volleyball team has state championship hopes, dreams and aspirations. For the third straight year, the Hawks are in Winter Haven competing in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) Class 3A state final four.
Besides Seminole Ridge, the other three Class 3A teams in Winter Haven are Miami’s Christopher Columbus High School, Lake Brantley High School from Altamonte Springs and Horizon High School from Winter Garden. Lake Brantley and Horizon played in the first state semifinal on Thursday, May 14 at 4 p.m., while Seminole Ridge was slated to play Christopher Columbus that same day at 7 p.m. Seminole Ridge (24-6) and Christopher Columbus (25-5) have similar records.
The semifinal winners will play in the Class 3A state championship game on Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. The matches will be played at the Winter Haven Health Center at Polk State College.
Going into Thursday’s game, Seminole Ridge will be riding a seven-game winning streak. The Hawks punched their ticket to the final four by defeating Spanish River High School on Friday, May 8 in the in the regional final (25-14, 25-17, 25-23). Key contributors for the Hawks were Michael Deeds, Riley Joros, Kai Trujillo and Evan Holowecky.
According to Seminole Ridge head volleyball coach Scott Barnwell, there are a few keys to his team’s success on the court.
“Our cohesiveness as a unit is reaching the level that we are going to need to move forward,” Barnwell said. “Our serve receive must be great in order for us to advance to Saturday’s state championship game.”
Barnwell expects a highly competitive game against Christopher Columbus.
“Columbus is a great team with some great players,” he said. “We are looking forward to meeting them Thursday night. Should be a good one.”
In other volleyball action:
- The King’s Academy boys volleyball team had a losing record in the regular season. But when the postseason rolled around, the Lions were ready to rise to the occasion. After winning the Class 1A, District 6 tournament with a pair of victories against Tradition Prep (Port St. Lucie) and Morningside Academy (Port St. Lucie), TKA earned the third seed in Region 2. The Lions won their regional quarterfinal and semifinal games against Morningside Academy and Somerset Academy-Canyons (Boynton Beach), respectively, before falling in the regional final on May 8 to Cardinal Gibbons High School (Fort Lauderdale) in straight sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-19). TKA finished its season with a 14-12 record.
- The boys varsity volleyball teams from Wellington and Palm Beach Central high schools received bids into Class 3A, Region 3, the same region as Seminole Ridge, which was the top seed. Wellington was the sixth seed, while Palm Beach Central was the third seed. In the regional quarterfinal on April 30, Palm Beach Central hosted Wellington. The visiting Wolverines upset the Broncos on their home court (25-17, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24). That ended Palm Beach Central’s season with a 13-5 record. After defeating Palm Beach Central, Wellington advanced to the regional semifinals on the road against the Sharks from Spanish River High School on May 5. The Sharks prevailed 3-1, in which the first three sets were extremely close (25-23, 26-24, 24-26, 25-18). Wellington concluded its season with a 14-8 record.
