The Clearwater Central Catholic volleyball team partied like it was 1985.
And Carrollwood Day School wasn’t just content on attending the party. They wanted to crash it. But CCC prevailed, winning their first state title since 1985, defeating the Patriots (25-21, 25-10, 25-19), who were playing in their first championship game.
“We wanted to win more than anything. This has been our goal for four years,” CCC senior Katie Moore said. “It’s such a big deal. We’ve wanted that (state) banner since freshman year.”
The All-Bay Area matchup set an early intense tone with a back-and-forth battle in the first set. The Patriots scored four-straight points for a 7-4 lead and regained the lead later in the set, 16-15 with three-consecutive points.
The tight first set saw several lead changes and ties down the stretch, but CCC closed it out with three-straight points that started with a Moore kill and ended with Moore’s block. Moore led with a match-high 14 kills.
The Marauders separated themselves in the second set, scoring 10-consecutive points for a 16-9 lead. They took a 2-0 lead by closing out the second set with nine-straight points.
In the third, timely kills by Aisling Sheehan (10 kills) kept things tight. The Patriots tied the set at 13-all with four-consecutive points, but then CCC went on a run of their own.
The Marauders scored the final four-straight points to clinch the title. The victory was CCC’s 21st straight. They haven’t lost a match since September.
Marauders coach Stephen Shepherd saw one thing from his team Wednesday night – resiliency.
“They were cool, calm and collected all night long,” Shepherd said. “All season long, they’ve been resilient. And now they’re champions.”