WINTER HAVEN — The St. Edward’s High School girls volleyball team found itself back on the same floor where it finished as one of the last two teams standing last season.
But facing a team with plenty of championship experience, the Pirates could not duplicate their magic from a season ago. St. Edward’s was swept by Seacrest Country Day in a Class 1A state semifinal on Monday evening at Polk State College in Winter Haven.
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The Pirates played from behind for much of the night and struggled to keep pace with the Stingrays, who won with set scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 25-15 at the Winter Haven Health Center.
“I’m proud of our players for this season, I’m proud of them for working hard,” St. Edward’s head coach Kelsey Fox said. “Seacrest did a really good job of just setting up their big hitters and beating our block. We just weren’t able to get there to close. And in a lot of cases, we had mental mistakes and bad touches. They just add up and that’s the game of volleyball.”
More: Experienced St. Edward’s volleyball team chases first state title
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Seacrest Country Day was the No. 2 seed in the Class 1A state tournament, while St. Edward’s was seeded third. The Stingrays will play in their fifth state championship match in the past six years.
The Pirates never held a lead in the first set but rallied from a deficit to tie the score following consecutive kills by Grace Clemente and Margaret Fykes. Seacrest Country Day responded by winning six of the next eight points, prompting a Pirates timeout.
Before closing out the set on a kill by Sophia Baron, the Stingrays controlled play thanks in part to their defense at the net. They recorded four of their six blocks in the opening set.
“I think a big part of it was making sure that we were giving our hitters space to be able to see the block and manipulate around the block,” Fox said. “That was the learning curve that we started picking up better in the second set.”
Nevin Waddell delivered an ace that gave St. Edward’s its first lead of the match at 2-1 in the second set. A hitting error gave the Pirates their largest lead of the night at 3-1. Seacrest later surged ahead, breaking a 10-10 tie with five consecutive points and 11 of the next 14 before Fox again called timeout.
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The Pirates again led early in the third set and stayed within striking distance midway through, but the Stingrays used a 6-0 run to build an 18-10 advantage, delivering the final blow to St. Edward’s. Baron again closed out a set with a kill to finish the match.
Maria Gorlatova led the Stingrays with eight kills, while Baron and Sophie Fong each added six. Baron also had a team-high 11 digs. Alexa Hicks recorded 24 assists and two aces, while Reese Milner accounted for half of the team’s six blocks.
Clemente posted a match-high 12 kills, but no other Pirate had more than four. Margaret Fykes finished with 20 assists, while Grace Fykes added 11 digs.
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With its nine-match winning streak snapped, St. Edward’s finished the season with a 22-5 record. However, Fox did not allow the loss to define a season that included a District 8-1A title and the program’s second consecutive Region 2-1A championship.
“I told them not to hang their heads, that they have worked their butts off this year for their record and that every win that they had, they earned,” she said.
The Pirates will lose seniors Halle Grella and Piper McCollom to graduation, but much of the roster is expected to return. St. Edward’s appears well-positioned to make another run to the state tournament in 2027, which would mark its third consecutive appearance.
“That’s the goal,” Fox said.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Volleyball: St. Edward’s season ends with 1A semifinal Loss to Seacrest Country Day
