Led by Kitula Morales and Sheila Rodiguez Southwest Eagles girls’ volleyball advance
One year after being eliminated by them in the same round and three weeks after losing to them in the GMAC finals, the Ferguson Falcons girls’ volleyball team was hoping for a different result when they took on rival Southwest in a Region 4-7A matchup on Tuesday night in the Southwest gym.
But the Eagles, led by 2018-19 Miami Herald Player of the Year Kitula Morales and 6-3 outside hitter Sheila Rodiguez, were not about to let that happen as Southwest swept Ferguson in straight sets 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 27-25) to advance to next week’s Region 4-7A final.
The Eagles (20-5) will look to punch their ticket to the state final four for the second consecutive year. Southwest, the No. 2 seed, got even better news later on when the Eagles learned that West Broward upset top seeded Cypress Bay in a five-set marathon.
Instead of traveling to Broward County, the Eagles will play next week’s regional final in their gym hosting West Broward on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
“It was really intense because they’ve been our rivals for a long time so we knew we would have to come out here tonight and be ready to go, especially after beating them last year in regionals and then in GMACs a few weeks ago,” said Morales, who finished with 17 kills, 6 digs and 2 aces. “It was great tonight, we had a big crowd and this is the way we like it. We’re motivated to get back to state again.”
Southwest lost to Palm Beach Gardens in straight sets a year ago in the state semis. After dominating the first two sets, the Eagles had to survive a big push by Ferguson (17-10) as the Falcons came alive in the third as the teams traded point for point most of the way.
“As soon as I knew that we were playing them again, we made some adjustments that would be difficult for them and our girls just came out and executed a great game plan,” said Southwest head coach Alain Suarez. “We came out very aggressive and in the third set Ferguson picked up the energy but we managed to stay focused and make enough plays to close them out.”
Rodriguez, a transfer from Miami Christian, finished with 4 kills and 3 blocks whil Aimee Lopez had 8 kills along with 19 kills and 5 assists from Libero Briana Leon.
BOYS’ GOLF
▪ Columbus in 5th place at state tournament: The Columbus boys’ golf team turned in solid work on day one of the Class 3A state tournament at Mission Inn Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills on Tuesday.
Led by freshman Hans Risvaer, the Explorers came in with a 20-over par 308 team score, good enough for fifth place out of 16 teams heading into the second and final round on Wednesday. Risvaer shot an even par 72 and is in 12th place individually.
Another freshman, Andres Atrio along with David Ragan shot five over par 77s to also lead the way for Columbus. Orlando Lake Nona leads the tournament having shot an even par team score of 288.
GIRLS’ BOWLING
▪ The Krop girls bowling team battled its way out of the loser’s bracket to beat Mourning twice to win its third consecutive district championship at Baker Bowl.
Kirra Magana and Lindsey Weingard led the way for the Lightning finished second and fourth, respectively. Other members of the winning Krop team were Rebecca Vainstein, Sophia Palmeiro, Molly Kaufman and Ava Grosfeld.