Berkeley Prep brings in the best of the best once again

By JARRETT GUTHRIE
Published September 26, 2006

TAMPA - Several of the nation's top teams, including five of Florida's defending state champions, will convene at the University of Tampa this weekend for the two-day Berkeley Premier Volleyball Tournament.

The event begins Friday at 3 p.m. at the Martinez Sports Complex and features 16 teams, including five from outside the state.

The teams will be split into four pools and compete in a series of best-of-five matches, before being divided into four brackets: Gold, Silver, Bronze and Challenge.

The list of Florida teams includes three ranked No. 1 in their respective classification in last week's Florida Sports Writers Association poll.

Among them: Winter Park, ranked No. 1 in 6A and seeking its third consecutive state title; and Orlando Lake Highland Prep, last year's 3A champion.

Other defending state champions in the field are Venice (5A), Fort Myers Evangelical Christian (2A) and Maitland Orangewood Christian (A).

Berkeley Prep coach Randy Dagostino said he annually uses Florida's state tournament and nationwide club play to judge who receives invitations.

"We are very selective about who we give invitations to," Dagostino said.

"I go to the state tournament at the end of every season and if I see a team that is losing a lot of players they are not going to get an invitation. But if they are going to still be strong next year I'll issue an invitation."

Among the local teams competing will be Plant, ranked with Winter Park and Venice among the top 35 in the PrepVolleyball.com national rankings.

"Dagostino brings in the best teams in the Southeast and we are honored to play in (the tournament)," Plant coach Leanna Taylor said. "Playing that many matches in a short period of time, your team can really improve, and the challenge and talent level is very high."

Plant won the Silver bracket in last year's tournament, defeating Jacksonville Bolles, which also returns.

There is a possibility of another Berkeley Prep-Tampa Prep meeting The schools played on Sept. 8 with Berkeley Prep winning in five games.

The teams are in different brackets, meaning a matchup this weekend is not guaranteed. Both teams also will play in the Tampa Bay Invitational Oct. 6-7, and have a regular-season match scheduled for Oct. 12 at Tampa Prep.

ODDS AND ENDS: King (5-3) embarks on a stretch of three matches in four days tonight when it hosts Tampa Bay Tech in a Class 5A, District 8 encounter. Allison Zak and Rene Duran are averaging 17 kills for the Lions, while Hayley Motl is averaging 16. ...Sickles (8-7) avenged a four-game loss to Class 6A-7 foe Mitchell (13-4) on Thursday with a four-game home triumph.

[Last modified September 26, 2006, 01:35:15]