Cardinal Gibbons’ volleyball stuns longtime rival St. Thomas Aquinas to win Big 8 title
What just happened was far from the norm.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ dominance of the BCAA Big 8 volleyball championships featured the Raiders as a 25-time winner of the event and had won nine straight titles since defeating rival Cardinal Gibbons in 2013.
Overall, Aquinas and Gibbons had met three times in Big 8 play dating back to 2013 with Aquinas walking away as the victor. That also included the final in 2015.
On Thursday they met again, only this time with a stunning result.
Gibbons snapped a 14-match losing streak to Aquinas with a 25-22, 25-19 victory for the Big 8 title at Pompano Beach High.
The victory also snapped the Raiders 16-match winning streak entering Big 8 final.
“The biggest thing was worrying about the first game first,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Kathryn Reeber said. “It’s been a rough patch the last few years against them. The last match we had against them we felt we could keep up. Today was revenge.”
Gibbons (17-3) hadn’t defeated Aquinas (20-3) since back-to-back seasons in 2010-11.
In the deciding set Gibbons never trailed after taking a 4-3 lead. The Raiders closed to within 20-18 of the Chiefs lead, but it wasn’t to be as Gibbons finished off their opponent winning five of the final six points to earn the championship.
“The girls adjusted well and seemed to know where the ball was going,” Reeber said. “They did an awesome job tonight. This has always been a big rivalry and the girls were excited about. This a is a special team we have this year.”
Senior outside hitter Fabiana Capone had 11 kills and five digs to lead the Chiefs.
Jordan O’Loughlin and Teyhlor Thomas each added six kills, while Ava Flores had 21 assists and six digs.
“This was amazing and our energy throughout was unmatched,” Gibbons senior outside hitter Fabiana Capone said. “We just played together as a team, and I think that was the reason why we finally destroyed them.”
Since 2013 St. Thomas had won every Big 8 title with a combined record of 55-3.
They advanced to Thursday’s final following a 25-17, 25-18 victory over Western. Gibbons’ destiny was secured following a 25-9, 25-14 win over Cypress Bay in their semifinal.
“We had a lot of mistakes and unforced errors,” St. Thomas coach Lisa Zielinski said. “There were a high number of missed serves and lack of communication. You can’t win if you’re not executing on our side.”
The Raiders were led by junior Mikayla Porter with nine assists, seven assists and six kills. Junior outside hitter Zori Brown added eight kills, while junior outside hitter Tameary Wardlaw had seven digs and senior Sydney Van Cott had five kills.
The first set was tight throughout with each side exchanging the lead on several occasions. Gibbons took the 23-21 after trailing 21-20. The Chiefs led by a single point before winning the final two points to take the match.