The St. Thomas Aquinas women's beach volleyball team had to overcome a lot of adversity and turmoil at the FHSAA state tournament this weekend at the Florida State University beach volleyball courts in Tallahassee.
The tournament was forced to postpone games due to abnormal weather, and ultimately ended on Mother's Day, one day later than originally scheduled.
St. Thomas coach David Palm said Friday that two EF2 tornadoes struck within a mile of the Raiders' team hotel, forcing a change in plans. Friday morning's game was postponed until later that evening. He was then able to play in a Saturday morning match before the semi-finals and final were moved to Sunday.
“We were scheduled to play at 11 a.m. Friday, but we woke up around 7 and the wind was blowing and the power was out,” Palm said by phone. “We got the outer band. It's pitch black so we get all the girls in the hotel and we take them to the lobby. We were just hanging out there and slowly but surely they canceled the match. , and then they predicted that that might happen, so we squeezed one game that night and had the next game on Saturday.
“They postponed the semifinals and finals to Sunday, which created a new problem because it was Mother's Day and the FHSAA doesn't normally play games on Sundays,” Palm continued. “We were trying to appease the parents because they said, 'You can't do it because it's Mother's Day,' but we had to get special permission and a one-time exception from the archdiocese to play on Sunday. It was a private Catholic school.
St. Thomas Aquinas (19-1) opened the tournament with 3-1 wins over Merritt Island and Vero Beach, but lost in the state semifinals to eventual champion and No. 2-ranked Gulf Breeze (22-0). ) lost 3-1. A match between undefeated teams. It was a great result for the Raiders, who lost in the state's first round the past two years.
Seniors Zoe Taylor and Zsa Zsa Ferguson were the only points on the Raiders' first line against the Dolphins. They did it in a dramatic way. After losing the first game 21-19, Taylor and Ferguson rallied to take the second game 21-18. Leading 14-13 in the tiebreaker, Ferguson used his 5-foot-4 frame to dig out the ball and score for the Raiders.
“It felt great for us,” said Taylor, an LSU signee who went 20-0 on the season with Ferguson on the first line. “We were very excited and confident going into the game. I think we played well throughout the tournament and I'm proud of us. Gulf Breeze is a good team. I knew it going into the game.”
“It was a huge relief to get that point,” said Ferguson, who signed with the University of Louisiana-Monroe. “We just have to try our hardest to get every point.”
“I’m going to remember the culture that the team had,” added Raiders senior Kristi Tarocca, who played on line two along with sophomore Emily Rosinski. “I will also remember the friendship and the drive to win.”
Dwyer advances to state quarterfinals
Dwyer (12-2) defeated Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota) 3-2 in the first round of the state tournament, but stumbled to Tampa Berkeley Prep 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
“It was great to get our first win and advance to the state quarterfinals,” said Panthers coach Eric Tenlen, whose team is making its state tournament debut. “I thought we could get there. That was one of our goals at the beginning of the year. We just kept pushing. It was amazing.”
Throughout the season, the Panthers were led by line one play from senior Sam Kepple and sophomore Colin Cabrera.
