By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Wekiva boys volleyball team has a 3-9 record this season with just one win in their last six games, a 3-2 victory over West Port on April 15. The Mustangs are ranked 194th in the state and fourth in Class 2A District 6, below Innovation, Lake Buena Vista and Gateway but above Liberty and Jones.
The Mustangs are 2-4 at home, 1-3 in away games and lost their only neutral game. Wekiva has also won just 10 sets while losing 29. The team has just one more game in the regular season before the start of the district tournament.
Wekiva’s only win in their last six games was a 3-2 win over West Port, which was not easy. The Mustangs had to earn this win as the match went on to five sets. West Port took set one 25-23, Wekiva took set two 25-20, Wekiva took set three 25-16, West Port took set four 25-22 and Wekiva took set five 15-6.
The Mustangs have not entered any stats for the season, including in their win against West Port.
If the Mustangs win the district tournament and take home the title, they will earn an automatic bid into the state championship tournament. But, before the district tournament, Wekiva had to prepare for Innovation High School for a district matchup in their final regular season game on Wednesday.
Innovation has an 8-11 record this season and was ranked 131st in the state coming into the game. Innovation is also first in Class 2A District 6 with a 3-0 record in district matchups compared to Wekiva’s 1-1 record.
While Innovation is a stronger program than Wekiva, it has fallen to many of the same teams this season, including Olympia twice and Oak Ridge once. But while Wekiva fell to East River 3-0, Innovation won both of its matchups against East River, 3-2 and 2-0.
The Mustangs’ matchup against Innovation will be important. Wekiva needs to try to get a win before the end of the regular season to gain some momentum and prepare for the district tournament, where they may see Innovation again.
Even if Wekiva loses in its matchup against Innovation in the final game of the regular season, it will still most likely be sitting fourth in the district. If the standings were to stay as they are now, Wekiva would most likely be the fourth seed going against the fifth seed Liberty.
The district’s number one and two seeds will get first-round byes, while the three, four, five, and six seeds battle in the first round. Wekiva going against Liberty is the best thing that could happen to them in the tournament.
This season, Wekiva defeated Liberty 3-1, one of its only victories. This should bode well for the Mustangs in their matchup in the tournament. Liberty had a 2-9 record and was ranked 224th in the state with two games left in their season as of Tuesday, April 22.
On paper, Wekiva is the better team, and they showed it when they beat Liberty 3-1 earlier this season. If Wekiva beats Liberty, the Mustangs will move on to the second round, where they will face the one seed, either Innovation or Lake Buena Vista.
Innovation currently leads the district, but when the tournament brackets come out next week with adjusted rankings, Lake Beuna Vista may jump above Innovation, as the team is 9-13 and ranked 84th in the state. The only reason they may not is that Innovation has three district matchup victories this season, with a fourth possible in the game against Wekiva this week.
