Doral volleyball rolls to regional final; Ferguson sweeps bowling districts

After turning in a 13-13 regular season, one might not have been too impressed with the Doral Academy girls’ volleyball team’s record heading into the regional playoffs.

But Firebirds coach Julio Arnaiz, now in his seventh year running the program, has been around the block a few times and knows better than to not make sure he schedules really tough competition.

And it’s paying off again.

Three days after easly dispatching No. 7 seed Boca Raton in straight sets, it was more of the same treatment by the No. 2 seeded Firebirds as they made quick work of No. 3-seed Miami Palmetto on Saturday afternoon.

Led by outside hitters Marcela Carmona (11 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs, 5 aces) and Micaela Velez (7 kills, 2 blocks) the Firebirds swept Palmetto in straight sets, recording a 3-0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-16) victory in a Region 4-7A semifinal to send their fans home happy. Now 15-13, the win moves Doral into a regional final matchup against a familiar foe – top seeded Weston Cypress Bay.

In a rematch of an Oct. 17 district championship contest, Doral will travel to Weston to face the Lightning on Wednesday at 6 for a chance to advance to the state final four in Winter Haven the following week.

Cypress Bay nearly did not make it to the matchup as it was pushed to the limit in its own semifinal Saturday before holding off Coral Gables in five sets.

The Firebirds will be looking to punch their ticket to the state final four for the third time in the past five seasons. Doral lost both prior trips in the semifinals to Tampa Plant in 2021 and 2023. The Lightning, which dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Boca Raton in last year’s regional final, will be looking to advance to state for the first time since 2004.

“We only care about playoff volleyball so the purpose of the regular season is to simply get ready for where we are now and the best way to do that is to play really tough competition,” said Arnaiz, who has gone up against the likes of Westminster Christian, Divine Savior (both Region 4-2A finalists), Archbishop McCarthy, St. Brendan, and out of town stalwarts like Merritt Island, Naples Seacrest Country Day and Jacksonville Bishop Kenny.

“Playoff volleyball is different than regular season volleyball. We knew we had to be ultra-focused coming in here today because Palmetto is a very good team and knew they would bring it. But our girls did a nice job today of executing the game plan very well and doing what we asked them to do.”

Arnaiz watched as Palmetto stayed close during the first set before his girls, leading just 17-15, went on an 8-1 run to close out the set. Everything was pretty much on cruise control from there as Doral won the second set in lopsided fashion and, after initially trailing 10-8 in the third, went on a 13-4 run to go up 21-14.

“I think we did a nice job today of playing really disciplined volleyball, trusting each other and having each other’s backs and that’s what helped us get the win,” said Velez, a senior transfer from Hialeah Gardens. “It was just a matter of us staying focused. Cypress Bay will be a tough match for us and controlling the pressure better will be the key for us. Last time (in the district final) we didn’t control the pressure, played really tight and let that get to us.”

The two teams split their past two postseason meetings in the regional semifinals the last two years and Cypress Bay took the district championship in its home gym in four tightly-contested sets. Arnaiz echoed Velez on the reason his team came up short last time.

“We played really tight a few weeks ago and talked about handling pressure better,” Arnaiz said. “Cypress Bay is a really good team, we didn’t execute on the easy plays and they made us pay. When you play a good team, there’s no wiggle room for mistakes. I think this time we’ll be ready.”

Palmetto, which had not won a regional playoff game in 14 years before a 3-0 victory over Stoneman Douglas in its quarterfinal contest on Wednesday, finished 17-11.

Region 4-7A - Cypress Bay d. Coral Gables 25-19, 25-14, 24-26, 25-27, 15-12: The Lightning (17-7) nearly ended the match in three sets, but Coral Gables (18-9) staved off four match points and rallied to win the third set. The Cavaliers, who were making their first appearance in the regional semifinals since 2002, then won the fourth and battled deep into a decisive fifth before Cypress Bay sealed the match with back-to-back points after Gables cut its lead to 13-12.

Sophia Guzman led the Lightning with 20 kills, six blocks and 14 digs while Erin Huang had 43 assists and 18 digs. Anya Noya had 12 kills and 13 digs and Victoria Urizar had 13 kills and three aces.

Region 4-6A - St. Thomas Aquinas d. Mater Academy 25-4, 25-5, 25-9: Emmi Merhi had 14 kills and 14 digs to lead the Raiders (25-4).

Region 4-6A: West Boca Raton d. Miramar Everglades 23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-12

Region 4-5A: Lourdes d. Naples Gulf Coast, 25-11, 25-16, 25-17; Archbishop McCarthy d. TERRA 25-15, 25-7, 25-10

Region 4-4A - North Broward Prep d. Estero 25-8, 25-18, 25-17: Dasia Johnson had 15 kills while Yasmin Diaz Tonon 12 kills, four aces, three blocks and 10 digs. Emma Luehrs had 27 assists.

Region 4-4A: Mater Lakes d. West Palm Beach Dreyfoos 25-18, 20-25, 27-25, 25-11

Region 4-3A: Gulliver d. Monsignor Pace 25-20, 25-22, 25-18; Pine Crest d. Boca Raton St. Andrews 25-17, 19-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-13.

Region 4-2A: Westminster Christian d. True North 25-22, 25-17, 25-18; Divine Savior d. Riviera Prep 22-25, 25-15, 25-12, 25-13

Region 4-1A: Stuart Pine School d. Westwood Christian 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 15-13

BOWLING

Ferguson swept boys and girls District 17 championships this past week.

For the boys, Rashawn Viart scored the highest series, and on the girls’ side, freshman, Angelie Brito, posted the high game and high series.

The Falcons boys defeated Southwest to win the team title in a best-of-five Baker bracket match.

The girls defeated Palmetto to advance to state.

Both teams went undefeated with 12-0 records, and will compete at the state championships, which begin on Tuesday at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando.

GOLF

Ransom Everglades 137, Westminster Christian 147, Gulliver Prep 163 (Team par 140 at Biltmore Golf Course): Navraj Suri (RE) 31 (-4); Matteo Bloom (RE) 34 (-1); Jake Suarez (WC) 35 (E); PJ Clingan (RE) 36 (+1); Zachary Fischer (RE) 36 (+1); Pedro Luque (GP) 36 (+1); Michel Pierson (WC) 36 (+1). Ransom finishes 9-1-1.

This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 8:48 PM.