Top-ranked Westminster Christian beach volleyball ousted in state quarterfinals
Westminster Christian was aiming to carry over its state championship success in beach volleyball as a club sport to the first season as a state-sanctioned sport.
The Warriors will have to wait one more year though after dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to Vero Beach on Saturday morning on the sand courts at Florida State University.
“It didn’t end how we wanted to but we had a good run and a good season,” Westminster Christian coach Sylvia Hernandez said. “There’s not much to say. Vero Beach is a very good team and they made the plays needed to win.”
Westminster Christian (13-1) entered the tournament as the top-ranked team in the state after winning a state title last season in Tavares when the sport was still played on the club level.
With most of its roster intact, the Warriors swept through the competition with relative ease this season, losing only one individual match during a 12-0 run pre-state.
On Friday following a weather delay of several hours, the Warriors took down Broward County’s last team standing, St. Thomas Aquinas, 3-1 in the round of 16.
The delays pushed the quarterfinal round to Saturday and meant Westminster would have to win three matches to secure the first FHSAA-sanctioned state crown.
“I wouldn’t say that affected us or was the reason we lost,” Hernandez said. “We had no control over that. Vero Beach is a great team and they outplayed us.”
The first opponent was fifth-ranked Vero Beach, a squad which Westminster had already defeated 3-2 during the regular season.
Westminster’s undefeated No. 1 team of siblings Emily and Zoey Matias and the No. 3 team of Gaby Arroyo and Lamaya Fuller won their two matches, but Vero Beach prevailed over the Warriors’ No. 4 squad of Nati Milo and Ariana Arteaga and the No. 5 team of Paige Anderson and Gigi Artiles.
It would come down to the No. 2 team of siblings Alyssa and Alyah Cadavid, also unbeaten heading into Saturday’s action. But the duo lost a tough three-set match losing the final set 15-8 and securing the outcome for Vero Beach.
“They were all pretty good games and really close,” Hernandez said. “It’s just tough.”
The silver lining for Westminster Christian is it will once again return the bulk of its roster for another run next season. Hernandez said 15 of the 17 players who comprised this year’s squad will return. Milo and Anderson are the lone graduating seniors.
“There’s always a lot to learn when you lose so it’s just working on a few things and getting better and we will,” Hernandez said.