St. Thomas Aquinas’ volleyball renaissance moves a step closer to a state championship
Lauren Purnell, like every other player on St. Thomas Aquinas’ girls’ volleyball team, need only look around their school’s gym and see the six state championship banners to be reminded of the school’s rich tradition in the sport.
But Purnell, a senior outside hitter, has yet to experience what winning one of those might feel like.
She got a slight taste on Wednesday night.
Purnell punctuated a grueling four-set match against host Lourdes Academy with a winning spike and then disappeared into a sea of Aquinas fans who made the drive from Fort Lauderdale and rushed the court to celebrate a 25-19, 26-24, 20-25, 26-24 victory in the Region 4-6A final.
The Raiders (18-12) advanced to the state semifinals for the first time in three years and will be on the road again on Saturday night when they take on Viera at 7 p.m.
“We said to each other we needed to play every point like it was our last,” said Purnell, who also sealed the second set victory for Aquinas with a key block. “After everything we went through with adversity and people transferring and people getting hurt, it was great to see how we’ve come together and really locked in now.”
For Aquinas, which earned its 17th overall appearance in the state final four and made it at least that far in nine consecutive seasons from 2011-2019, this year’s path has been anything but routine by its standards.
The Raiders persevered through a stretch in which they lost 12 of 17 matches and have since won 10 in a row.
“We’ve had a real rollercoaster season with injuries and other factors, they’ve been through the ringer,” said Aquinas coach Lisa Zielinski, who has guided the Raiders to all six of their championships over the past 33 seasons. “I’m very proud of the way they played against a very good Lourdes team. They had to win it. (Lourdes) wasn’t going to just give it to us.”
Lourdes (21-8) was making its first ever appearance in a regional final and was guaranteed home court advantage in the next round had it advanced. But numerous serving errors in the first two sets contributed to Aquinas being able to jump out to a 2-0 edge.
Led by Sofia Santamaria (12 kills and six aces), Carmen Rionda (10 kills) and Olivia Guzman (10 kills, three blocks and two aces), the Bobcats rallied to win the third.
But Aquinas’ serve-receive game, which was sharp throughout most of the match, improved in the fourth and helped the Raiders respond by taking an early 7-1 lead that helped them eventually hang on and avoid having to play a decisive fifth set.
Zy’Aire Barr led the Raiders with over 15 kills while Mikayla Porter had over 10 kills. Zori Brown, Sydney Vancott and Riley Gulla each also contributed during key stretches, converting attacks. “That’s the one thing about volleyball is when that back row can keep it alive it just helps us run that great offense that we have better,” Purnell said.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 11:28 PM.
