Trinity Catholic edges Orangewood Christian for regional championship

Trinity Catholic Heading To State Finals

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For a team that was young and fairly inexperienced to begin the season, the Trinity Catholic volleyball squad grew up in a hurry and peaked at just the right time as evidenced by the Celtics’ impressive effort in a thrilling 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 victory over Orangewood Christian School in Tuesday night’s Class 2A-Region 1 championship.

The three-set sweep improved Trinity Catholic, the No. 1 seed, to 20-3 on the season and sends the Celtics to the FHSAA State Final Four for the first time since 2021.

“That was a phenomenal team we just played, and we knew it coming into the match,” said Trinity Catholic coach Jeff Reavis. “I was so proud of our team tonight because you put a game plan together and do all the things you’re supposed to do and then for them to go out and do what we ask them to do and be consistent with it was really impressive. Everyone said we’re a young team and young teams have to learn. After the second set, I said we’re not a young team anymore. It’s the playoffs, we went through a whole season and this group is so competitive and such fighters and I really enjoy being around them.”

Orangewood Christian, the No. 2 seed, played exceptionally well but just not quite good enough in finishing the season at 23-5.

The first set was the easiest for Trinity Catholic as the Celtics jumped out to a 21-14 lead as sophomore middle blocker Addyson Avery had a pair of kills, junior outside hitter Maddie Hewitson added three of her own and senior Delaney Baker had a service ace.

“Addyson and Avery were outstanding and they had to be,” coach Reavis said.

Orangewood Christian (Maitland) fought back behind solid net play by sophomore outside hitters Kennedy Langmo and Kaleigh Langmo and closed within 24-22 on a spike by junior middle blocker Caroline Vargas. Trinity Catholic finished the set off with a powerful cross-court kill shot from sophomore outside hitter Emily Reed to go up 1-0.

The Rams took an early 4-1 lead in the second set before the Celtics began to assert their dominance at the net as sophomore Ashlyn Hallick and Reed had several kills and Baker had a service ace to take a 16-11 lead. The teams traded points until Orangewood Christian went on a run sparked by junior outside hitter Hannah Williams who had a pair of kills and a block to pull within 23-21. Hewitson drilled a winner down the line and a spike attempt by the Rams sailed long to give the Celtics’ a commanding 2-0 lead.

“Orangewood Christian gave us fits and every game was close,” coach Reavis said. “Their outside hitters are really good, but we made some adjustments and played really well in the red zone, which is points 20 to 25.”

The final set was a dogfight and was tied eight times as Orangewood Christian did not want its season to end and played valiantly. The Rams led 19-17 before Trinity Catholic called a time out. The Celtics showed great composure by storming back to tie the score at 19 on back-to-back kills by Hallick and Hewitson. The Rams wouldn’t quit and took their last lead at 21-19 before Reed and Avery drilled winners to make it 21-21. Reed and Hewitson pounded winners, and an Orangewood Christian miscue put the Celtics on match point. A long rally, one of many during the contest, ensued with sophomore Maggie O’Farrell securing the victory with a perfectly placed dink shot that caught the Rams off guard.

“This is pretty sweet,” Reavis said of the hard-fought regional finals victory. “Coming into the season I thought we were probably a year away from being really good, but after the Nike tournament where we went 4-2, I thought my gosh, we’re pretty good and we have some things we can work with. This group is so competitive, they have great fight and grit, and they just want to get better every day.”

With the hard-fought victory, Trinity Catholic, which won state titles in 2018 and 2020 and lost in the semifinals in 2021, will compete in a state semifinal on Tuesday at Polk State College in Winter Haven. The state finals will be held on Wednesday.

“We don’t know who we play yet in the semifinals because the FHSAA will probably re-rank the final four teams,” coach Reavis said. “They have done that in the past, but it really doesn’t matter who we play because we’ll be ready.”