Divine Savior volleyball defeats Chaminade-Madonna, advances to regional finals

The gymnasium at Divine Savior Academy has 11 banners commemorating the success of its volleyball teams since 2013.

Nine district titles, one regional title and one state championship.

The Sharks now find themselves one step closer to expanding their real estate along their home gym’s ceiling.

Divine Savior Academy defeated Chaminade-Madonna in the Class 3A Region 4 semi final 3-1 (25-13, 25-13, 24-26, 25-19) Friday evening.

“This is huge for us,” Divine Savior coach Matt Willems said after the match. “...I don’t think there’s anybody that thought we’d be back in the regional finals, having graduated 12 seniors, pretty much our entire starters. I got a couple of seniors, otherwise this is basically our JV team. So I’m super thrilled for our girls. We accomplished something that I don’t think many people [thought we could].”

With the win over Chaminade (20-5), the Sharks (25-4) stand just two games away from a chance at the Class 3A state championship game (which they won in 2018). But they must first beat a Goliath in Westminster Christian.

Divine Savior will face undefeated Warriors (25-0) – the top-ranked team in the state of Florida and No. 8 in the country, according to USA Today – in the regional final on Tuesday. After winning its regional semifinal over Riviera Prep in straight sets (25-7, 25-14, 25-20) Friday, Westminster Christian will approach the rest of the postseason bracket with a vengeance. It’s looking to win its first state title since 2016, despite having played in the championship game each of the last three years.

“We’re gonna have to throw everything we can at them,” Willems said, looking forward to his team’s upcoming match. “They’re a fantastic team. …It is absolutely going to take us playing our best match of the entire season. And that just might be to keep it close. So, yeah, we’ve got a big challenge. But we’re up for it. Our girls are gonna be excited. And we’ll see what happens.”

The first and second sets Friday night went to Divine Savior, decisively, by a score of 25-13.

Chaminade won the hard-fought third set 26-24. Teams took turns trading points, but the Lions’ demeanor noticeably improved around the 19-19 mark. Girls let out jubilant screams as smiles spread across their formerly serious faces with every point scored. Some did a little jig between volleys.

They carried this energy into the deciding fourth set, jumping out to a 7-4 lead. Divine Savior then rallied to take a seven-point lead (23-16) before clinching a spot in the regional final game with a 25-19 win.

“Chaminade-Madonna’s got some really good seniors on their team,” Willems said. “I knew they weren’t gonna go down without a fight. We just relaxed in the third set, and I’m glad the girls rebounded back in the forth to get the win.”

Before Friday, Chaminade and Divine Savior met twice. Each time Divine Savior arose victorious, winning 3-0 on Oct. 11 and again 3-2 on Oct. 20 (a match Willems called “a dog fight”).

“We know each other so well,” Willems said of the two teams. “We dissected them on film. They dissected us. We knew what they wanted to do. They knew what we wanted to do. So the way we executed in those first few sets, I was super, super proud of the girls because they knew exactly what we were going to do. And we played really well.”

MORE RESULTS

Region 4-4A semifinals - Miami Gulliver Prep d. Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22; Miami St. Brendan d. Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian 25-21, 25-18, 25-13.

Region 4-2A semifinal - Boca Raton Christian d. Miami Archbishop Carroll, 25-14, 25-15, 25-17.

This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 11:39 PM.