State volleyball: Shorecrest advances to first final in 23 years
Source/Author: Rodney Page, Times Staff Writer
November 16, 2018
Shorecrest has played well all season, but the Chargers clearly saved their best volleyball for the postseason.
After defeating district rival Calvary Christian in the Class 4A region final more than a week ago, Shorecrest kept up the momentum with an impressive 25-20, 25-22, 25-23 win Saturday afternoon against Jacksonville Providence.
The Chargers (22-4) will play for the state championship on Saturday at 10am in Fort Myers against Palm Beach Benjamin (22-4).
This is the first time Shorecrest has played in the state final since 1995. The school has never won a state volleyball championship.
"I knew this was going to be difficult, this wasn't a joke-around team," junior middle hitter Chaise Campbell said. "I love how our team fought back. We didn't push away when they started coming at us."
Each set was highly contested.
Shorecrest started quickly and took a 6-2 lead behind two aces from Jacky Perry. Providence (20-10) was able to cut it to 10-7 on a kill by Kamara Kelly. From there, the Stallions were able to stay close but Shorecrest never lost the lead.
With the score 18-15, the Chargers rattled off five of six points to basically put the set away. Campbell, who had nine kills overall, ended it with a kill.
Shorecrest had a much bigger challenge in the second set. The Stallions scored four of the first five points for a 4-1 lead. The set was tied 13 different times after that until it was 22-22. After that, Annabelle Happ had a kill, Providence was called for a net violation and Perry put it away with a kill. Perry had eight kills overall.
"We just have this thing where we come together as a team," Perry said. "There is a lot of trust between us and that's how we're able to execute so well in those tight points."
The third set looked as if it was just a formality. The Chargers jumped out to a 10-2 lead when Campbell blocked a kill attempt. But Providence chipped away and was able to cut the lead to 21-20 on a Kelly ace. Shorecrest was able to get some breathing room at 23-20, but the Stallions came right back with three straight points to tie it.
The third set looked as if it was just a formality. The Chargers jumped out to a 10-2 lead when Campbell blocked a kill attempt. But Providence chipped away and was able to cut the lead to 21-20 on a Kelly ace. Shorecrest was able to get some breathing room at 23-20, but the Stallions came right back with three straight points to tie it.
From there, Shorecrest was able to get the final two points on two Providence errors to close out the match.
"I think as we have gone through the state tournament we have just gotten better and better," Campbell said. "We've been fighting harder and harder. If we keep playing the way we have been playing, we definitely have a chance."
Original story featuring Tweet with video clip here: https://www.tampabay.com/article/20181110/ARTICLE/311109674/1120
Original story featuring Tweet with video clip here: https://www.tampabay.com/article/20181110/ARTICLE/311109674/1120
