Playoff boys volleyball: Seminole Ridge stuns King's Academy with sweep in region final

WEST PALM BEACH — The King’s Academy gym sounded louder every time the Seminole Ridge’s boys volleyball team scored.

The Hawks' fans made more noise from the stands and the red-jerseyed squad made more noise on the court in posting a surprising upset sweep of King’s Academy in the regional finals Tuesday night.

Seminole Ridge is onto states this weekend in Polk County after a 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 rout against the same Lions squad that had swept them last week to win the District 14 championship. The Hawks will face Winter Park in the state quarterfinal.

The shocking nature of the sweep was one reason a vigorous celebration of hugging, bouncing Hawks players ensued. “David vs. Goliath," crowed Seminole head coach Scott Barnwell.

Seminole Ridge star outside hitter Owen Holowecky, displaying his usual histrionics after a kill shot, put forth an outstanding night but got plenty of help.

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Jonathan Benitez served terrifically; David Brevik came up with clutch kills; and the defense, especially in the roller-coaster second set, was sterling.

The Hawks' coaching staff made adjustments after the district loss and moved to 23-7 — the best team in Barnwell’s stint.

“The difference was that (district final) was our worst game we played the entire season," Barnwell said. “(King’s Academy) played a heckuva game a week ago. We watched, studied film. We knew we had to make two, three adjustments. We thought for sure if we did that, we’d win. Sure enough, everything we worked on, they did exactly that and came out on top."

King’s Academy, which won the regional title last year to make the eight-team state tournament, was the favorite because of great size and a slew of lefties making them a tough foe.

They are led by 6-foot-4 southpaw Micah Tumas and Micah Amestoy, two tall lefties. Tumas, who has a scholarship to powerhouse Cal-Irvine, saw a handful of his attempted kills get blocked at the net.

“It was our position defensively," Barnwell said. “They have a lot of big guys and lot of lefties. Going into the first game, we didn’t realize all their lefties."

It was a packed King’s Academy gym — half of the fans arriving from Loxahatchee. The visitors from the public school made the gym rock, outvoicing King’s Academy’s large contingent.

“It felt amazing,’’ Benitez said. “Coming into their home gym and bringing our fans, it felt like it was a home game for us.”

“We had to bring it back and bring it strong," Benitez added. “This is one of our best games. We flipped the switch."

Benitez set the tone by winning his first three serves of the match as Seminole Ridge took a 3-0 lead.

The key juncture came at 21-19 when Seminole Ridge won two straight points. Amestoy made an error, Barnes punched a kill shot for a 23-19 lead and Brevik soon followed with another kill for a 24-20 lead. On set point, Tumas made a rare error going long on his rifle serve.

“My normal guys played great — Owen is a top player in the state," Barnwell said. “But guys like Brevik, Addison Corey, Barnes, they stepped up their game. We knew if they played well, we’d be awesome."

Holowecky is as animated as any player in Palm Beach County, prone to gyrating wildly after a winning point. Late in the third set, as Seminole Ridge pulled away, Holowecky scored a kill, then motioned like he was swinging a golf club.

“It’s amazing," Holowecky said. “We knew going into regionals and got our butts kicked here, we wanted revenge. We knew we’d be back here. We did our job the first two games (of regionals), came back and were ready."

In the second set, Seminole Ridge put on an inspiring display of gritty, on-the-floor defense to seal it at 25-20 after an 18-18 deadlock. Tumas got blocked at 18-18, then Benitez served an ace. The run was capped after a wonderful save of a ball by Benitez that resulted in a Holowecky slam.

The visiting fans ate it up, with ringing chants of “Let’s go Hawks."

“We always have the best fans," said Holowecky, a Long Island University commit. “They always come out, even for boys volleyball. We love them so much."

Seminole Ridge got up 5-0 in the third set and never let go. During the point of the match, Seminole Ridge made three diving saves before Holowecky slammed it home for a 19-14 bulge.

“We stayed strong and didn’t let anything break us," Holowecky said. “Even when we were up, they weren’t going away."

King’s Academy now goes away for the season but not before a gallant 25-6 record in Danielle McCoy’s first season after a 4-5 start.

McCoy came over from Lake Worth Christian, bringing her standout son along, Isaiah. McCoy was invited to the USA volleyball under-18 squad recently and almost missed the regionals because of it. However, he was a late cut when the team trimmed to 12.

“We were glad to have him back," Danielle McCoy said.

However, it wasn’t enough to stop surging Seminole Ridge.

“I felt like we didn’t play up to our potential," McCoy said. “We had moments of amazingness and I’m pretty proud of them overall. It was a fantastic season but we were a little off with our passing and our hitters were a little off."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Playoff boys volleyball: Seminole Ridge stuns King's Academy with sweep in region final