Doral Academy volleyball team swept in semifinal by state’s top-ranked team

It’s nice to reach the state tournament.

But it’s never any fun to face the defending state champion right out of the gate.

No. 4 Doral Academy girls’ volleyball was swept in three sets by defending state champion Winter Park, 25-10, 25-14 and 25-12 on Thursday in an FHSAA Class 7A state semifinal at Polk State College.

“I don’t think we made it easier on ourselves, either,” Doral coach Julio Arnaiz said. “We didn’t really follow the game plan. We were trying to play everything in the game. When you play a very good team, you can’t take away everything. You have to stick to what you are trying to do, and we just couldn’t do it.”

Doral was led by freshman setter Claudia La Rosa with three kills, one dig and one ace. Junior Aaliyah Peterson added two kills while Marcela Carmona had two kills and three digs.

“(Winter Park) was a very good team and they made you really uncomfortable. We didn’t pass well enough. Our plan was to jump out early during the first 10 points so they didn’t have a big lead and they didn’t serve so aggressively.”

Doral will only be losing one senior, outside hitter Micaela Velez, from the squad and is quickly setting a goal to return to the state tournament next year.

“It took a lot of work to get here,” Velez said. “We worked really hard and went through a lot of ups and downs this season. We were definitely the underdogs this season. But we stayed together, stayed disciplined and had each other’s back.

“We worked our butts off every single practice. Honestly, just being here was a huge accomplishment for us and a huge goal to get to this place.”

Doral is seeking its first state title in program history and with the entire lineup, minus Velez, returning, Arnaiz feels the expectations for next season should be high.

“We have a young team and we are very proud that we got here. It was a good experience for them for sure to get ready for the next time,” he said.

No. 1 Winter Park will face No. 3 Tampa Plant for the 7A state title Saturday at 1 p.m.

On Thursday, Winter Park was led by junior outside hitter Isabell Incinelli with 12 kills, two aces and five digs while senior outside hitter Amelia Mancino dished out eight kills with two digs.