Archbishop McCarthy volleyball takes solace in historic state runner-up finish
It was hard to tell Archbishop McCarthy lost the state title game.
The Mavericks finished as Class 5A girls volleyball state runners-up on Saturday after getting swept by defending state champion Tallahassee Chiles at the FHSAA Finals, 3-0.
“Just getting here to the finals was such a big jump for us,” McCarthy coach Robert Perez said. “Sure, we would have loved to take it to four sets or five sets, but that’s a strong team.”
No. 2 Archbishop McCarthy (28-4) lost 15-25, 19-25 and 23-25 to the top-ranked Timberwolves (31-1). Chiles’ lone loss this year was to Westminster Christian and Perez said the team knew ahead of time, winning the state title would be hard to accomplish.
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“We kind of knew it was going to be hard to make a game against them. If we would have won the second or third set, we could have put a little pressure on them, and then anything can happen. But (Chiles) had too much firepower.”
McCarthy was making its first trip to the state finals and was more than happy to take home the state runner-up trophy because in the back of their minds, the season was a total success, and they plan on returning next year.
“We have a young team. We will be coming back next year with 14 returning players,” Perez said. “We are only losing two seniors. We are more than happy to win this trophy and it will be back to work next year.”
McCarthy was led by junior Juliana Lugo with 12 kills, six digs and two passes. Freshman outside hitter Em’Pris Seetal added eight kills and one dig, and sophomore Valentina Santamaria had four kills and two digs. Raquel Hurtado posted 15 digs and 22 passes.
“This team is very close and we were happy to get here and we just made the most of it,” McCarthy senior defensive specialist Brianna Masaracchio said. “Being it’s the first time we ever got this far, it’s just a big accomplishment for our program. We are really put together and we don’t give up on each other. We are always supportive.”
The Mavericks reached the state final by beating Gainesville 3-1 on Thursday.