Viera traveled to Satellite on Sept. 21 in the semifinals of the Cape Coast Conference Tournament.
After splitting the first two sets, the Scorpions fended off two furious rallies to defeat the Hawks in four sets 25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23.
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“A little shaky but got it done. Viera played out of their minds. We had trouble putting the ball down. They played great defense,” Satellite head coach Daren Bolton said. “This was a big test for our composure. We had every opportunity we could have folded. They had some good momentum, but we stayed steady. We were a little sporadic with our consistency, but overall that was a big one.”
Satellite was in firm control in both sets three and four. It led 18-10 in set three and 17-10 in set four, but Viera wouldn’t go down without a fight.
The Hawks cut the deficit to one at 23-22 and 24-23 in set three, but sophomore Kenzie Little spiked the set-clinching kill to give the Scorpions a 2-1 match lead. Viera made it 24-23 in set four, but a missed serve sealed the win for Satellite.
“I really think it was such a big win. I really think we pulled it together and just proved how much potential we have as a team,” Little said. “It honestly makes me so confident knowing how much we can still improve in our game and how much of a bond we can still create because it’s still early. We haven’t even made it pretty far in the season. I’m really excited to just see how much we can grow.”
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Little led the Scorpions with 10 kills and 4 blocks resulting in points. The sophomore recorded her fifth match of double-digit kills, equaling the number of matches last season as a freshman. She’s on pace to surpass last year’s total of 157 kills.
“I feel like it’s been a really good season for me,” Little said. “I’ve already beat my kill record from last season and I’ve really been working on my serve receive and blocking, so I’m hoping to improve on those. Obviously I have some off games, but I really feel like I’ve been playing pretty consistently.”
Scorpions sophomore Harper Lanza finished the night with 9 kills, 1 block for a point and 1 ace. Juniors Lily Sigety and Macy Ferland produced 7 and 5 kills, respectively. Senior Lily Ruda served 5 aces to go with 3 kills.
“Our setters are making good decisions, paying attention to the matchups. Our ball control, our first contract was not good out of serve receive and even some of the free balls,” Bolton said. “We got to clean that up. We’re not able to run our offense as efficiently as I would like because of the first contact.”
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Satellite won its ninth consecutive match and improved to 13-4. It’ll face Merritt Island in the Cape Coast Conference Tournament championship match on Sept. 23. On Sept. 1, the Mustangs defeated the Scorpions in four sets.
“We’re so excited. We love playing Merritt Island,” Little said. “They’re such a fun team to play against. We’re really hoping we can take away a win this time against them.”
It was an inconsistent performance by Viera, but despite its struggles it was right there at the end to take the match against Satellite.
“I just thought we were too up and down against a decent team that we can’t afford to make as many errors that we did and just not execute on our side,” Viera head coach Sarah Wayne said.
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Viera was done in by its shaky serving. It finished the night with 13 service errors, including one on the final point of the match.
“It was too much,” Wayne said. “Just too many times we dug ourselves into a hole and then by the time we tried to climb out, we just ran out of room.”
Hawks junior Addi Casey led the attack with a match-high 18 kills. Junior Emery Hart concluded the match with a dozen kills. Freshman Samantha Wasdin tallied 7 kills and sophomore Ava Sarratt and junior Brighton O’Brien chipped in with 5 kills each.
Viera fell to 11-5 as it’ll host Space Coast on Sept. 23 in the third-place match. The Hawks will then head to Kentucky for a two-day tournament on Sept. 25-26.
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“We have a lot to still play. We got a tournament that we’re looking forward to going to,” Wayne said. “We get to play Satellite again and Merritt Island, so some big games coming up. We got a lot to look forward to before districts.”
Cape Coast Conference Tournament scores
(1) Merritt Island def. (4) Space Coast 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-19)
The Mustangs took care of business in the semifinals, sweeping Space Coast to host Satellite in the championship match on Sept. 23.
Merritt Island junior Ema Michell recorded 10 kills and 7 digs to lead the team followed by 9 kills and 3 aces from junior Lydia Scott. Senior Bella Becker posted 7 kills and junior Gena Walters produced 6 kills and 2 blocks. Senior Amber Ives tallied 21 assists.
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(5) Melbourne def. (8) Titusville 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 29-27)
(7) Astronaut def. (6) Eau Gallie 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-13)
Melbourne will host Astronaut in the fifth-place match on Sept. 23 while Titusville will head to Eau Gallie for the seventh-place match. It’ll be the first meeting this season between the Bulldogs and War Eagles. The Terriers swept the Commodores on Sept. 17.
(10) Edgewood def. (11) West Shore 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 29-27)
The Red Wolves advanced to the ninth-place match on Sept. 23 while West Shore heads to the 11th-place match. The Rockledge-Heritage score has not been reported in the other match in the ninth-place bracket.
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(13) Palm Bay def. (16) Cocoa 3-0 (25-17, 25-5, 25-16)
(14) Cocoa Beach def. (15) Bayside 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-10, 25-20)
Palm Bay will host Cocoa Beach in the 13th-place match on Sept. 23 while Bayside will host Cocoa in the 15th-place match. The Pirates and Minutemen will square off for the first time this season. The Bears swept the Tigers on Aug. 25.
Other Sept. 21 scores
Holy Trinity def. Melbourne Central Catholic 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-10)
The Tigers snapped a four-match losing streak with their second sweep of the Hustlers this season. Holy Trinity improved to 3-9 and it’ll head to Rockledge on Sept. 24. Melbourne Central Catholic entered the Sept. 22 match at Eau Gallie with a 6-7 record. It’ll travel to John Carroll Catholic on Sept. 24 for its second meeting in nine days.
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Odyssey Charter def. Brevard Christian 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19)
Odyssey Charter returned to above .500 following its fourth sweep of the season. The Titans entered their Sept. 22 match at Heritage with a 6-5 record. They’ll host Calvary Chapel on Sept. 24.
Calvary Chapel def. Pineapple Cove West Melbourne 3-2 (21-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17, 15-6)
The Eagles pulled off a reverse sweep to improve to 7-4. Calvary Chapel hosted Pineapple Cove Palm Bay on Sept. 22 before heading to Odyssey Charter on Sept. 24.
The Pioneers entered their Sept. 22 match at Florida Prep with a 3-10 record. They’ll host Brevard Christian on Sept. 24.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Satellite fends off Viera to advance to conference title match
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
