Vinnie Cammarano
Key Points
Apopka’s volleyball season came to an end Monday night as the Blue Darters struggled with errors in a straight-set loss to Seminole in the opening round of the Class 6A District 4 tournament.
Apopka (12-5) traveled to face the Seminoles (15-8) but couldn’t find consistent footing, falling 25-16, 25-13 and 25-14.
“We had too many mistakes, but you can’t take anything away from Seminole. They came in, they played hard and at home,” Apopka coach Brian Mater said. “More importantly, just like Coach Sarah stated during the time, we had an awesome season. We can’t take that away from the girls.”
The Darters showed flashes of resistance in the opening set as Seminole swung hard early. Laila White recorded an early kill, while setter Taylor Cain added a crafty dump to keep Apopka in striking range. Kierra Taylor contributed a kill, and Marie Hughes made an impact at the net with a block before Taylor added another kill.
Apopka closed the gap to 11-9, but Seminole responded with a run to build an 18-12 advantage. The Darters couldn’t regain momentum, and the Seminoles closed the set 25-16.
Apopka again stayed close early in the second set. Kalissa Burske set Hughes for a powerful right-side kill, and Kiana Napier added a kill to help the Darters keep pace. Victoria Polusmak and Isabel Romero scored off a kill and dump, briefly giving Apopka its first lead.
Seminole strung together strong attacks and blocks, while serve-receive errors made it difficult for Apopka to organize its offense. The Noles stretched their lead to 14-8, forcing an Apopka timeout.
The Darters picked up a few points after the break, including a Hughes kill, but Seminole continued to apply pressure and won the set 25-13.
Apopka showed fight in the third set, opening with a solo kill from Violet Venning. Venning later added a block and an ace, while Napier and Lilly Phillips contributed kills from the outside. Phillips found the back corner on a free ball, and Cain scored with a well-placed ball over the net.
The Darters worked to stay within reach, but Seminole continued finding openings and winning battles at the net. Hughes made several defensive saves, but the Seminoles pulled away late, closing out the set 25-14 and ending Apopka’s season.
Mater said the Darters struggled with positioning in the back row and blocking at the net, allowing mistakes to compound throughout the match.
“We’re still doing this thing on the back row, where we’re running through the ball instead of planting our feet and being set. We were still struggling on our block,” Mater said. “We just made a lot of crazy errors, you know, something that was right there that I think we could fix. We just ran out of time, and we played against a good team.”
Despite the disappointing finish, Mater said the loss doesn’t define the team’s season and expressed confidence in the program’s future.
“We had a wonderful season. I’m very, very proud of the girls,” Mater said. “We have a very strong team coming back. Even though we’re losing our setter and libero, we’re going to gain some other players that are coming up as well. So I’m excited.”
Assistant coach Sarah Egbers echoed that sentiment, pointing to the team’s improvement from last season and the opportunity to continue developing.
“We had a great season,” Egbers said. “I think that we improved so much from last year, and I think we still have a lot of room for improvement, which is a good thing. I’m honestly just excited to see where we go.”
Sophomore middle blocker Kierra Taylor, who took on a larger role this season, said moving from freshman volleyball to junior varsity and then varsity challenged her while helping her build stronger relationships with teammates and setters.
“Playing middle on varsity, it was very competitive being here, and it’s like a whole new level from moving up levels last year,” Taylor said. “I really appreciate that and developing a connection with my setters. That was the best part about this season.”
As Apopka turns toward the offseason, Egbers said improving reaction time and quickness will be a priority, from getting to the ball to setting and attacking.
“I want to improve our quickness, quickness to the ball, quickness in our sets, hitting everything,” Egbers said. “So definitely a lot of reaction time is what we’re going for.”
