NEW PORT RICHEY - The Pasco-Hernando Community College volleyball team's run of 13 straight Suncoast Conference championships is over.
The season, however, is not.
Conference runner-up PHCC, which concludes the regular season Saturday in a tri-match with Brevard CC and FCC-Jacksonville at Cocoa Beach, qualified for its 14th consecutive state tournament.
The Conquistadors (26-8, 8-2) have been state runner-up each of the past six seasons. They head into their season finale with nine wins in their past 10 and Saturday won the Hillsborough tournament.
"We've been playing well lately," first-year coach Kim Whitney said. "We've been getting the right rotations in. We're coming to a point in the season where we've been making adjustments to teams and winning our own side."
PHCC won three of four matches in the Hillsborough tourney, defeating Hillsborough, South Florida and St. Petersburg College. PHCC lost to Palm Beach.
Rafaella Maranhao led PHCC with 55 kills and teammate Ramona Criste had 141 assists and five aces.
Other contributions came from Leah Schmiedge (24 kills, 12 blocks and five aces), Micque Parker (42 kills, five blocks), Danielle DeGrove (20 kills) and April Slate (10 kills, nine blocks).
Schmiedge, a sophomore middle blocker, leads the team with 122 blocks.
"She's been really consistent; a strong hitter, a strong blocker," Whitney said of Schmiedge.
HELPING HANDS: Saint Leo setter Robbie Beach set a school record for career assists in a match against Lynn this month.
Beach, a senior, got her 2,673rd assist, surpassing the mark of 2,511 held by Jenn Molby . A three-sport star at Ridgewood (Class of 1997), Molby played at Saint Leo from 1998 to 2000 and has the assist-per-game record at 9.58. Beach is third at 7.90.
Saint Leo is tied for third in the Sunshine State Conference and won its only match last week. The Lions improved to 12-14 overall, 4-4 in the conference with a 31-29, 32-30, 24-30, 30-21 defeat of Clearwater Christian College.
BID ADIEU: Seven Saint Leo men's soccer players conclude their careers at home at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Tampa. Honored on Seniors Day will be Tony Rosso , Kyle Crawford (Land O'Lakes), Gus Kalathakis (Ridgewood), Titou Fierro , Loren McPherson , Niel Laxdal and Philip Lahey .
Saint Leo (9-3-1, 3-2-1) won its fifth straight game Saturday, 4-2 against Florida Tech. Rosso had two goals and an assist and is third on the school's all-time goal list with 35. He also ranks fourth in points (90) and seventh in assists (20).
TIGER WITH A BITE: Former Land O'Lakes star Stacy Bishop continues to shine at Louisiana State. The sophomore forward is the Tigers' second-leading scorer with seven goals and 20 points.
She had LSU's lone goal on a penalty kick in Sunday's 2-1 loss to South Carolina.
Last season, Bishop was LSU's most valuable player and named state player of the year with 12 goals and 29 points.
Bishop led the Gators to a state championship in 2003 and is Pasco County's all-time scoring leader with 192 goals.
