Naples Seacrest four-peats as Florida 1A state volleyball champs

Stingrays top Boca Raton in the 1A state final; Westminster wins a sixth consecutive 2A crown; Lake Highland Prep rolls to the Class 3A title

Naples' Seacrest Country Day players and coaches celebrate with the state championship trophy after winning their fourth consecutive state title Wednesday at Polk State College in Winter Haven. / Bill Kemp

WINTER HAVEN – Put another one in the trophy case.

Naples' Seacrest Country Day won its fourth consecutive girls volleyball state championship after knocking off Boca Raton Christian 3-1 in the Class 1A state title game on Wednesday at Polk State College.

Seacrest was led by Klaudia Beach with 24 kills and 21 digs and Samantha Soderlund with 23 kills and 12 digs. Boca Raton was led by Tekoa Barnes 24 kills and 21 digs.

Ironically, it was just the first state title for Seacrest first-year head coach Andy Wimmer, who moved from Maine to take over the team this season.

Seacrest Country Day players and coaches gather around the state championship trophy after winning their fourth consecutive state title Wednesday at Polk State College in Winter Haven. / Bill Kemp

“It is an amazing opportunity to come and coach this team. This is their fourth in a row. They won three and then I got the opportunity to come and coach this team and we were able to do it again,” Wimmer said.

Wimmer added Seacrest players have incredible work ethic, practicing in the morning, afternoon and then holding extra after-practice practices.

“There was pressure. We knew it from the beginning, but we came into the gym and worked. We have some fantastic players on this team, but it is a team. It is everyone coming together and working together,” Wimmer said.

Westminster wins sixth consecutive Class 2A crown

Westminster battled its way to a sixth-consecutive state championship game berth Tuesday after turning back Naples First Baptist, 3-1, in a Class 2A semifinal at the FHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships at Polk State College. 

Westminster (21-5) will face the Clearwater Central Catholic vs. Ocala Trinity Catholic winner for the 2A state championship Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“I am so excited. I’ve actually been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the season,”  said senior outside hitter Zoey Matias, now in her sixth varsity season with Westminster. “I knew we were going to be in this spot. I knew we were going to be here. I knew we were going to win the game today. I had confidence in my team.”

Westminster roared out of the starting gate, winning the first two games 25-19 and 25-14. But First Baptist (23-5) fought back in a nip-and-tuck Game 3 before pulling out a 26-28 win. That’s when Westminster passed its gut-check and made quick work of First Baptist, 25-11, in the deciding Game 4.

“After the third set, I brought my team in, and I could see their faces were a little bit off,” Matias said. “So I said, ‘We need to change our faces and our body language. We have the momentum and we are going to win the fourth set and we just need to play our game.’”

This past year, Westminster finished as the 3A state runner-up after dropping the title match to Tampa Carrollwood Day. It was the fifth-consecutive season Westminster finished as state runners-up. Westminster won the 2016 5A and the 2013 3A state championships.

Westminster head coach Julie Doan Kurenum, who is now in her 20th season with the Warriors, said reaching that state tournament has become a staple for the program but the team is really anxious to win the title.

“There are teams and players and coaches that would give anything to do what we have done, and we don’t want to take anything away from that. But why would we be OK with second place when we are here and we want to win first,” Kurenum said. 

Lake Highland Prep sweeps Class 3A title

Orlando Lake Highland Prep blanked Pinecrest Gulliver Prep 3-0 Tuesday to advance to the state championship match slated for Wednesday at 4 p.m. 

Lake Highland Prep will face Tampa Berkeley Prep, which was also 3-0 winner in the semifinals, taking down Tallahassee Florida High.

Lakeland Highland Prep won 25-15, 25-20, 25-20 and was led by senior Elena Maynulet with 11 kills and 14 digs while senior Kierstin Bevelle dished out 10 kills with 11 digs.

Berkeley Prep won 25-13, 25-15, 25-9 and was led by Hannah Hankerson with six kills and 10 digs while Kalyss Taggart and Izzy Mogridge each recorded seven kills.