No. 7 special for St. Thomas Aquinas’ volleyball team as it wins seventh state title

Seven is a special number.

St. Thomas Aquinas got revenge, a state championship and a seventh title for its head coach Lisa Zielinski at the FHSAA girls volleyball state championships Thursday at Polk State College.

St. Thomas turned back Viera 3-1 to capture the Class 6A crown, and it was done at the hands of the team which eliminated the Raiders in the state semifinals a year ago. St. Thomas won its first state title since 2018.

“How exciting it is and what a big deal it is getting to that No. 7,” Zielinski said. “After COVID it was hard getting back into things, but I knew I had a team with energy, drive and talent. We had a lot of injuries and a lot to overcome.

“They have this cohesiveness, and they play so well together. They just have a real passion for the game they share. The season is long and grueling, and you can’t do this if you are not 100 percent in it for your team. These kids are all in and don’t complain.”

The Raiders won the first set 27-25, lost the second set 20-25 and then won 27-25 and 26-24 to capture the title.

“We put in blood, sweat and tears to win this,” senior outside hitter Sydney Van Cott said. “I definitely think that we deserve it. We were definitely coming back for revenge. We wanted to do it in three sets, but a state champ is a state champ.”

St. Thomas was led by Van Cott with 13 kills and six digs while Zori Brown dished out 10 kills with 15 digs. Senior outside hitter Zoe Taylor had 12 kills and five digs and Halley Tang had 14 digs.

“I am so happy to be a state champion,” said Taylor, who will sign with LSU Thursday to play beach volleyball. “We came up here with one goal. We wanted to get our job done and we did that. We did it. We won.”

Zielinski has rolled up 894 wins, seven state championships, 15 regional titles and 32 district championships for St. Thomas over 36 seasons.

“We always stress play with urgency,” Zielinski said. “We’ve won some titles and lost some, but you just have to play with that urgency, but under control. I don’t think it is easy for kids to do.”

Viera was led by Isabella Starck with 28 kills and 10 digs while Sophia Jones had 12 kills and 13 digs.

“I am proud of how we fought. The three sets they won, they won by three points. So, it was super close,” Viera head coach Sarah Wayne said. “All season long we had efficient offense and just a boost of senior leadership.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2023 at 11:01 PM.