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Berkeley Prep Falls In 3A Final

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By NICK WILLIAMS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 23, 2008

LAKELAND - The 12 state championship volleyball banners hanging in a blue-and-white gym in Tampa speak volumes.

They present perfection and dedication. They represent the work of a Hall of Fame coach and dozens of Division I players, some eventual All-Americans.

There hasn't been a volleyball championship banner lifted in that gym since 2003.

The past four seasons, those banners have been captured and lifted in another gym, featuring red and white colors and occupied by an elite program at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando. Make it five straight.

Saturday, Lake Highland defeated Berkeley Prep in the Class 3A state final 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-11. It was Berkeley's fourth consecutive loss to the Highlanders in the state tournament.

Last year, Lake Highland defeated Berkeley in the state semifinals, and in 2005 and 2006, it was in the title match.

The Buccaneers ended the season 27-3.

"I have mixed emotions," Berkeley senior setter Christina Theofilos said. "Mad. Sad. I thought this was our year."

Berkeley defeated Lake Highland (25-7) in two regular-season meetings earlier in the year, 3-1 and 3-0. It was a different story inside the George Jenkins Arena at The Lakeland Center on Saturday.

"The difference in the match was the experience," Berkeley coach Randy Dagostino said. "Maybe their attackers were hitting the ball harder."

In the first game, Lake Highland Prep attacked the middle of Berkeley's defense and blocked well at the net. On back-to-back occasions, Berkeley thought a serve was going out, but watched it fall inside the line. In Game 2, Berkeley led 15-9, but the four-time defending champion Highlanders slowly crept back, led by hitters Megan Gaughn (17 kills) and Alexandra Franceschi (16 kills).

The Buccaneers won the third game to keep their season alive, but once Lake Highland owned a 20-10 lead in Game 4, the writing was on the wall.

"For us to be on a roll, we have to win one point at a time," said Berkeley junior middle hitter Lindsay Young, who finished with 10 kills.

Freshman Jordan Burgess had a match-high 20 kills while Theofilos ended her prep career with 29 assists and 18 digs.

Now in her 18th season, Lake Highland Prep coach Charmaine Cox said when she began coaching, she wanted to build her program into what Dagostino had built at Berkeley. All of Lake Highland's state titles have come this decade.

"I knew the four defending championships were a target on our back," Cox said. "We weren't overconfident."

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