Hagerty topples Winter Park in 7A volleyball regional semifinal

Huskies win another 5-setter against Wildcats

WINTER PARK, FLORIDA – Beating the same team twice in nine days may be difficult, but Hagerty High’s volleyball team knew exactly how to handle the task.

Getting some superb clutch play from senior outside hitter Brooke Stephens, the visiting Huskies fought off determined Winter Park 25-20, 25-23, 13-25, 24-26, 15-9 to win a Class 7A regional semifinal on Saturday.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for Hagerty (20-8), which defeated Winter Park in five sets for the District 4 title on Oct. 20.

Members of Hagerty's volleyball team huddle up during their match against Winter Park / Photo by Jeff Gardenour

Hagerty, seeded third in its region, advanced to play top-seeded Lake Brantley (23-6) for the regional championship on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

“Winter Park is such a good team,” Hagerty coach Juanita Hitt said. “My team came through and pulled it off at the end

We were up a few times. We didn’t finish. But they came back, they came back and finished and fought hard.”

Hagerty seemed to have second-seeded Winter Park (21-8) on the ropes in the fourth set when it raced to a 9-0 lead. But the Wildcats slowly whittled away at their deficit behind some strong net play from 6-foot-3 senior middle hitter Kindell Welker and 6-2 junior outside hitter Fallon Stewart.

Winter Park finally tied the set at 19-19 but Hagerty went back on top 20-19 with a hard kill from junior outside hitter Abby Mas, who was nearly unstoppable at times on the left side. But the Wildcats surged ahead 24-22 on a block by Welker. Winter Park won the set on an ace by Maddi Zornek.

In the fifth and deciding set, the teams battled evenly through the game’s first four point before the Huskies went on a 4-0 run to take a 6-2 lead, After a block by Welker, Hagerty went on a 4-1 run to surge ahead 10-4.

Hagerty's volleyball team celebrates its Class 7A regional semifinal win against Winter Park on Saturday night / Photo by Jeff Gardenour

Stephens, a 5-foot-11 athlete with a powerful arm swing, then took over down the stretch with some key kills to give the Huskies the set and match.

“I had so much fight in me because we had already beaten them before,” Stephens said. “It’s hard to beat a team twice, it really is, because they now know your tactics.

“We had to change up our rotations a few times and put in our defenses,” Stephens said. “I’m so glad we could come back and beat them.”

Hagerty looked well on its way to a sweep in the early going. The Huskies used multiple 4-0 runs to take a commanding 15-7 lead.

Winter Park three times trimmed its deficit to three points, the last on a kill by Stewart, to cut Hagerty’s lead to 23-20. But a kill and ace by the Huskies salted away a 25-20 win.

The second set was all Winter Park for a while, with the Wildcats taking a 12-5 lead. But the Huskies roared back, taking a 22-21 lead on a block by 6-0 freshman opposite Jenness Orcutt.

The schools then went back and forth until Hagerty won the set on a service error.

Faced with early elimination, Winter Park played with steely determination in the third set. Stewart ripped off one kill after another to help the Wildcats take a 10-4 lead.

Winter Park then went up by 10 points three times before a pair of Hagerty hitting errors gave the Wildcats a 25-13 victory. Winter Park then won the fourth set before losing momentum and the match in the fifth.

Stephens had a superb match with 26 kills. Mas added 16 kills. “Our outsides and our opposite, Jenness Orcutt, did a great job,” Hitt said.

Brielle Mullen had 47 assists, and Libero Mayte Camacho, 36 digs, for the Huskies.

Leading Winter Park were Stewart, who had 19 kills, two aces and 13 digs; and Emily Forness and Welker, nine kills each.

The Wildcats concluded a terrific season in which coach Stephanie Gibson won her 800th career victory at the school.