Archbishop McCarthy volleyball team advances to first state final
Archbishop McCarthy has arrived.
The Mavericks girls volleyball squad turned back Gainesville 3-1 in an FHSAA Class 5A state semifinal on Friday and vaulted themselves into their first state championship matchup in program history.
“First time ever in 26 years,” Archbishop McCarthy coach Robert Perez said. “I took the helm three years ago and little by little we started building and here we are. I am so proud of my girls.
“It’s going to be a tough final but anything can happen the way we are playing right now. This is an amazing event. They do a great job here and we feel the love.”
No. 2 McCarthy won 25-20, 25-22, 21-25 and 25-20 to secure the title-game berth slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Polk State College. The Mavericks will square off against defending state champion and No. 1-seed Tallahassee Chiles.
“We got a little sloppy (in the third game) and we were overconfident,” Perez said. “They caught up to us and we couldn’t close it out. But I knew what I had, and I knew my team is good at playing from behind. We are always able to make some adjustments.”
McCarthy (28-3) was led by junior Juliana Lugo with 19 kills, eight digs and two aces while senior outside hitter Briana Masaracchio dished out 10 kills, seven digs and two aces.
“Game 3 was a big game and sometimes it will get to us,” Lugo said. “It’s about the little details, the little nuances. As a team, even though we lost the third set, we were incredibly confident in our ability because we are a very consistent and talented team. So going to the fourth set, I don’t think we were worried.”
Additionally, sophomore Oprah Povea had seven kills and three digs and sophomore Valentiana Santamaria had six kills and one dig.
“We are super excited. We’ve been working so hard every day at practice,” Santamaria said. “This has been like a dream and a goal since the beginning of the season and for years before that. We all just came together and achieved a goal we had set in our minds.”