Vatikiotis, Lenderman lead All Saints to 4th straight district title
· Yahoo Sports
LAKELAND — It could have gone the other way — or at least gone down to the wire in five sets. All Saints’ come-from-behind rally in the third set was nearly for naught as Tampa Bay HEAT rallied and had set point.
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All Saints, however, hung tough, won three consecutive points then finished off the Heat in four sets, 21-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-9, in the championship match of the Class 1A, District 9 volleyball tournament at All Saints.
The victory gave All Saints its fourth consecutive district title and sends the Saints into Tuesday’s regional quarterfinals. The Saints had defeated Tampa Bay HEAT during the regular season and was the top seed in the district.
“It was really important for me (to win district title),” All Saints junior Hali Vatikiotis said. “I love this team and having won four in a row, that's a really big thing. But the main thing is just doing this together as a team with these coaches. I love this team and to be able learn it and go each step of the way and have all of us do it together as a team, that's my main thing because it's not just me. It's not just one person on this team. It’s all of us, and that's what makes it special. We get to do it together.”
It certainly isn’t one person, but Vatikiotis certainly was a big part of it. The team’s leader with 227 kills for the season going into the match, she lead All Saints with 20 kills, consistently coming up with big kills at key moments. She also had 11 digs and two aces.
“She's our top outside, great hitter, great leader as well, very consistent whenever she's in the zone,” All Saints junior Michael Zavolas said. “But it's all about her leadership as well. She controls a lot of the energy and effort.”
Vatikiotis was serving in the third set when All Saints rallied to take the lead after being down 16-11. The Saints went on to take a 23-21 lead and appeared to be on the verge of going up a set.
The Heat, however, rallied and had set point at 24-23.
All Saints survived when Kendall Boardman then put up a spike that was blocked out of bounds. The Saints then won the next to points to take the set then dominated the final set.
“It was great,” Vatikiotis said. “It was definitely a turning point for that fourth set that we played. It was really important to get that set and going back and forth and being able to come out and win was really important.”
Unlike the first meeting between the two teams when All Saints won in three sets, the Saints dropped the first match.
“We had to fight back, but I don’t think any of us were scared,” Vatikiotis said. “We just wanted to fight back more.”
As she noted, the victory was a team effort and there were plenty of contributions, starting with setter Paige Lenderman. All Saints began the season in a 6-2 attack with Lenderman, who can play anywhere on the court, being one of the two setters and also playing right-side hitter. After an injury during the season, the Saints switched to a 5-1 attack with Lenderman being the primary setter. She did a masterful job Thursday in mixing up the attack and finished with 50 assists.
“Paige is by far one of the best setters in the county,” Zavolas said. “She is up there. She controls the tempo of the game. She's a quarterback and she runs it well.”
Lenderman mixed it up the sets with Vatikiotis and Sophia Kelly, who had 17 kills and four aces. Alina Varela in the middle had nine kills and four blocks, and Boardman had five kills. Libero Valeria Castro had 19 digs.
So what’s next for All Saints in the playoffs? All Saints was the No. 3 seed in the region last year and lost in the regional semifinals to Keswick Christian.
This year, All Saints, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A overall, went into the district tournament ranked No. 2 in its region behind Naples Seacrest Country Day, which was a state semifinalist last year.
“We’ve got a good shot,” Zavolas said. “We’ve got a good shot in regionals.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Vatikiotis, Lenderman lead All Saints to 4th straight district title