OC Rams Reach State Volleyball Semis

Orangewood Christian advanced to the FHSAA Girls Volleyball State Semifinals following a 3-0 victory over Winter Park on October 28. The win secured the Rams a spot in the new FHSAA Open Division, where the top eight teams in the state compete regardless of class size. Head Coach Diane Lang earned her 800th career win with the result, marking a milestone in her 37th season of coaching.

The Rams entered the Open Division after finishing the regular season unbeaten against Florida schools. MaxPreps ranked the team No. 4 in the country. Their only losses this season came against the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the nation during a tournament in Las Vegas. In the Open Division pool, Orangewood Christian defeated Pinecrest-Gulliver Prep and Alachua-Santa Fe, both by a 3-1 set score.

The decisive match against Winter Park ended with set scores of 25-16, 25-14, and 25-19. Winter Park, the defending Class 7A State Champion, also advanced from Pool A. The top two teams from Pool A and Pool B will meet in the State Semifinals. Clearwater-Calvary Christian and Tampa-Plant topped Pool B to join the final four.

Seminole County initially had nine teams qualify for the Regionals. That number narrowed to three before The Geneva School was eliminated. Top-seeded St. Edward’s defeated The Geneva School 3-0 in the Class 1A-Region 2 Semifinals on October 24. The set scores were 25-16, 25-22, and 25-21. St. Edward’s became the sole representative from the 1A bracket moving forward.

In the Class 6A-Region 1 bracket, defending State Champion Oviedo fell short of the title. The Lions defeated No. 3 seed Lake Brantley 3-1 in the semifinals on October 24. Oviedo took the first and third sets, 25-12 and 25-17. Lake Brantley won the second set 25-21. Oviedo closed out the fourth set 25-23 to force a deciding fifth set.

DeLand, the top seed in the region, had defeated No. 5 seed Buchholz 3-1 to reach the final. The match between DeLand and Oviedo went to five sets on October 28. DeLand won the first set 25-23. Oviedo responded with a 25-21 victory in the second set. DeLand took the third set 25-22 and the fourth 25-17 to lead 3-1.

The final set saw a back-and-forth battle. Oviedo held leads of 13-9 and 14-11. A DeLand serve hit the net but crawled over to the Oviedo side, cutting the deficit to 14-12. DeLand then won five of the next six points to close the set 17-15. The Bulldogs secured the region title with a 3-2 victory.

Oviedo’s season included county championships for its Junior Varsity and Freshman teams. The varsity roster included seniors Brianna Cangialosi, Ava Clevenger, Anderson Hitt, Maddie Mehring, Abigail Patton, Delaney Sloane, Sara Stawicki, Autumn Westfall, and Eva Woolm. Sophomores Nora Kretchman, Maddy Sloane, Gabriella Travieso, and Kelyn Yarborough, along with freshmen Mia Johnson and Tate Simpson, also played for the Lions. Head Coach Jennifer Darty led the team with assistance from Carson Bailey, Kaleb Heyliger, Jeff Schneider, and Ethan Rice.

The State Semifinals are scheduled for Friday, November 6, at the Winter Haven Health Center on the campus of Polk State College. Match 1 pits Winter Park against Clearwater-Calvary Christian at 4 p.m. Match 2 features Tampa-Plant against Orangewood Christian at 7 p.m. The State Championship match is set for Saturday, November 7, at 7 p.m.