Royal Palm rallies past West Boca in volleyball regional semifinal

Tuesday, November 06, 2012
by The Palm Beach Post

Royal Palm Beach overcame a slow start to defeat West Boca Raton 20-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19 in a Class 7A regional semifinal Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (17-11) advance to face Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas on the road in Saturday's regional final.

"It took them one game to get focused," Royal Palm coach Sal Ciano said of his team. "I just told them they had to cut down on the mistakes.

Junior Brianne Cook led Royal Palm with 17 kills and 19 assists, many of which set up freshman Bailey Williams, who had 14 kills, seven digs and three blocks.

After committing 10 errors in the first game, Royal Palm took over in the second game. The Bulls got within a point at 17-16 after Amanda DeOlivera's three consecutive kills. But the Wildcats scored four straight points to squash the comeback.

West Boca Raton (16-12) made it interesting in the final game. With the Wildcats one point away from wrapping up the win, the Bulls' Kelli Wise scored six consecutive service points.

Cook, however, ended West Boca's rally with her final kill, sending Royal Palm to the regional final for the first time since 2008.

"Being one game away from state again - you've got to love this," said Ciano, who reached the state semifinals in 2008 in his second year as Wildcats coach.

Bayley Cook had 22 assists, seven digs and six aces and Chambre Brown added five blocks for Royal Palm.

Monica Shevrock led West Boca with 23 assists, four kills, eight digs, three aces and seven service points. Kelsey Whalen had five kills, two blocks, five aces and nine service points.

-- Faran Fagen

Class 7A

Venice d. Martin County 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20: Madisen Lydon had 13 kills, 18 digs and eight service points and Danielle Dodge added 11 kills, 16 assists, nine service points and 10 digs, but the Tigers (21-8) fell to the Indians in Stuart.

Class 5A

Jensen Beach d. Pompano Beach 25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 25-17: Meghan Conway had 19 kills, 15 digs, and 10 service points and Ella Donaho added eight kills and seven blocks to lead the Falcons (23-5) past the Tornadoes (17-7) in Jensen Beach. Jensen advances to face Naples-Lely in Saturday's regional final.

Class 3A

Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian d. Pope John Paul II 25-9, 28-26, 25-19: Amanda Evanicki had 16 digs and five service points and Meaghan Donahue added 10 kills and six service points, but the Eagles (14-12) were swept in Fort Lauderdale.

Orlando-First Academy d. John Carroll 25-14, 20-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-10: The Rams were outlasted by the Royals in Fort Pierce.

Class 2A

Lake Worth Christian d. Pine School 25-13, 25-19, 25-19: Kristen Reid had 27 digs, nine kills and eight service points and Meagan Milligan added 17 kills, eight service points, three blocks and three aces as the Defenders (24-3) swept the Knights in Boynton Beach.