Advertisement

District volleyball: Wharton makes Plant work for title

 
Published Oct. 19, 2018|Updated Oct. 19, 2018

TAMPA — Plant hadn't dropped so much as a single set in district play all year. But in Thursday's Class 8A-8 final against Wharton, the Wildcats only fought harder as the match went on.

Wharton came out sluggish, and Plant won the first set handily. The Wildcats gave the Panthers trouble in the second, but once again, one-loss Plant found a way to pull it out.

But in the third, fueled by a big blocking game and aggressive swings from outside hitter Jeanette Henderson, Wharton took a lead and never let up, handing Plant its first district set loss of the season.

"We knew they were going to come in hot and heavy. We knew it could go either way. We just had to come in and play our game," Plant outside hitter Camryn Vogler said. "It was nice to see some good competition."

Plant tightened up in the fourth, and Wildcat miscues helped the set go quickly, as the Panthers won the match 3-1 (25-12, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17) to take the district championship.

The Panthers, whose only loss came at the hands of nationally ranked Oviedo, appear poised to make a state championship run. So for coach Vanja Todorovic, Thursday's adversity wasn't all bad.

"Having played them, and them understanding us and us understanding them a little bit, they really gave us a run for our money, and I loved it," Todorovic said. "It's great preparation for regionals."

When the match began, Plant (23-1) came out swinging, and Wharton seemed to be largely on the defense, bogged down by it's own errors. The Wildcats (23-3) played better in the second, though, as the teams battled through eight tie scores, and Wharton middle blocker Lexi Morse tallied three big blocks.

In the third, Morse continued her dominance at the net, and Henderson had several big kills down the stretch that took Plant out of its usual rhythm.

"They were just hitting our deep holes. They were putting the ball in spots where we weren't," Vogler said. "After every point we come together, and it's our time to let loose, regain our strength. That's the biggest thing for us, coming together, taking a deep breath, and going on to the next point."

When the teams came back for the fourth, that's exactly what Plant did. With the dropped set behind them, Plant got back on the attack, and Vogler, who led the team in kills, had two more and a service ace late to secure the victory.

After the game, the team posed for pictures with the trophy, but there wasn't a whole lot of fanfare. Because for the Panthers, Thursday's victory wasn't a destination, but just one step in the right direction.

"This is definitely a stepping stone," Todorovic said, "and it definitely showed us the little things we have to continue to work on in order to get where we're planning on going."