CLEARWATER - Sarasota Cardinal Mooney swept a tired Tampa Catholic in the Class 3A, District 9 final Wednesday night at Clearwater Central Catholic.
They had clashed twice this season, each winning once, and Cardinal Mooney's Lori Carey vividly remembered the loss.
"We were up two games to none and 16-14 in the third game," Carey said, "and we lost. So we knew they were a great comeback team."
There would be no comeback on this night. The Crusaders, who beat St. Petersburg Catholic on Monday and went five sets to upset Academy of the Holy Names on Tuesday, simply did not have anything left. But they made it interesting in the third game. The final score: 25-17, 25-15, 27-25.
The district victory means Cardinal Mooney (16-8) will host the region Oct. 28. Tampa Catholic (15-8) is still alive, but the Crusaders must travel to a region site yet to be determined.
"We were flat," Crusaders coach Ernie Fry said. "We were tired. They took it to us; hats off to them. But we had an extremely tough, emotional win last night, and my kids were tired."
It showed. The Crusaders got it going for short spurts but could not sustain anything.
In the first game, Tampa Catholic was within 19-15 with the serve, but the Cougars scored the next five to go up 24-15. In the second set, Mooney never was threatened, building a 10-point lead early and never allowing the Crusaders to get closer than seven. But in the third game TC held a 17-12 advantage before losing it to Sara Del Monte's service.
The game was close the rest of the way, but mistakes (two service errors in the final five points) doomed the Crusaders. A Del Monte ace finished the match for Mooney.
"At the beginning of the season, we really set our sights on winning districts," Carey said.
Goal accomplished.
5A-7: It's Gaither, Sickles
TAMPA - Gaither finds itself in familiar territory, earning a trip back to the final by dismissing Wharton in three games (25-15, 25-19, 27-25) at Alsono.
The Cowboys benefitted from good serving early on, getting nine aces in Game 1. Experience carried Gaither, as it has all season, with seven players from last year's Sweet 16 team that went undefeated in the district.
The Cowboys dropped one district game this season to Alonso, a team they seemed destined to meet in the final. However the second-seeded Ravens failed to get past Sickles in the other district semifinal, losing to the Gryphons 25-21, 10-25, 25-12, 25-21.
Outside hitter Ann Greenwood led Sickles with 16 kills, Sara Vance added eight more and setter Stephanie Krull had 26 assists.
Alonso had defeated Sickles in both regular-season games.
"It feels great to get the win," said Sickles coach Rob Brashear. "It's a little bit of redemption. We're young and start three freshmen but we worked through rookie mistakes throughout the season and picked it up tonight."
Sickles plays Gaither tonight at 7 for the district title.
- DAVID NORRIE, Times correspondent
5A-8: Plant, Brandon to square off for title
TAMPA - Plant's Leanna Taylor and Amy Watson of Brandon know their teams can play better than they did in the semifinals.
They won't have to wait long to see if that happens.
Tonight at 7, three-time defending champion Plant hosts Brandon for the championship.
Both teams earned automatic region berths with victories. Top-seeded Plant defeated No. 4 King 25-14, 25-19, 25-15 and second-seeded Brandon outlasted No. 6 Hillsborough 25-12, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13.
"We weren't great and we haven't peaked yet," Taylor said. "But this is a start to state. Brandon is well-coached and we're expecting a good match."
Plant (17-3) put away King (9-14) with late spurts in all three games.
Brandon (12-3) received a stern test before escaping with its third victory vs. Hillsborough (10-8). After dominating the opener, the Eagles had their hands full the rest of the way.
"I was surprised in one way and not another," Watson said. "The surprising part is how we backed down after winning the first game so convincingly. I knew Hillsborough would come in loose because we'd already beaten them twice and they had nothing to lose."
In the fifth game, Brandon never trailed after scoring eight of the first 10. Hillsborough pulled to within 14-13 on a Megan Kelly kill, but Brandon's Erin Decker responded with a kill to end the match. The Terriers fought off three match points before Decker's decisive slam.
Brandon lost its only meeting with Plant this year.
"We're at a disadvantage because all of their girls play club ball and we only have two that do," Watson said. "But we'll be excited to play them."
Plant led 12-10 in the first game, and was tied at 9 in Game 2 and at 5 in the third game before its steady play eliminated King.
