A pair of newbies featuring college-bound talent opened the second-to-last day of state volleyball action.

University’s Jordan Hefner and Manatee’s Jacqui Armer each helped lead their teams to the Final Four for the first time. And their Class 8A state semifinal match was a hard fought one.

Manatee swept University (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) but each set came down to a couple of key plays. Loge sets were tight with back-and-forth lead changes and ties. In fact, the Hurricanes never led by more than six points during the match.

In the first set, University took a late 21-18 lead with a 4-1 run, but Manatee regained the lead with strong play at the net by Armer. That allowed the Hurricanes to close out the first set.

In the second, the Armer-Hefner matchup at the net led to a back-and-forth battle for the lead. Canes Haley Coulter’s back-to-back points (an ace and kill) led to a 16-12 lead. Later, Jojo Coulter gave Manatee a 21-15 lead with back-to-back kills. With Hefner at the net, the Titans rallied and saved three-set points before the Canes put the set away with a Haley Coulter kill.

University won the front line at the net in the third to take an early 7-3 lead. But Manatee rallied to tie it up at 15-all later in the set. Haley Coulter and Armer took over at the net for the Canes for a 19-17 lead. Manatee took advantage of a couple of University errors down the stretch to close out the match.

Haley Coulter led the Canes with 14 kills, while Rachel Harty (13) and Jenna Talbert (12) had double-digit kills for the Titans.

Manatee will play Jupiter for the Class 8A title LIVE on BHSN Saturday at 11 a.m.