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Plant four-peats as state volleyball champions

Photo by COREY BECKMAN

Plant's four state titles in a row is the second-most current streak in Florida volleyball.

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By NICK WILLIAMS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2009

LAKELAND - During the past three years, Plant High's volleyball team has been the darling of South Tampa.

The mayor has visited the team - twice. The squad has been invited to ride in parades, only to turn it down. It received a certificate from the Senate. Even George Steinbrenner invited them to watch a Tampa Yankees game from one of his suites.

That's what happens when you win three straight state titles.

And after winning a fourth consecutive title Saturday, to quote Plant coach Leanna Taylor, "This party will continue."

The Panthers, who are ranked seventh in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, won their first Class 6A title with a 25-13, 22-25, 25-19, 25-13 win against Winter Park.

The title is the program's ninth overall and seventh this decade. Plant's four state titles in a row is the second-most current streak in Florida volleyball. The nine overall titles rank fourth all-time in the state.

Seniors Maddie Martin, Ali McCurdy and Leah Jordan ended their careers as four-time state champions. They've never lost a postseason match.

"I was really proud of the girls' mental toughness today," Taylor said. "All the hype as far as four-peat being at stake and all the hype that went into this match, they just stayed focused."

Martin, who before the season was rated the 34th-best senior in the nation, had 22 kills while junior hitter Alex Johnson added 20 kills. Senior setter Becca Howard contributed 48 assists and Duke-bound libero Ali McCurdy, who was rated the 85th-best senior in the country, finished with 23 digs, which included several diving one-handed digs.

While it was expected Plant would reach the state final, Winter Park didn't exactly hand over the championship trophy.

After Plant's dominating performance in Game 1, Winter Park, the former three-time 6A champion, made a comeback in Game 2 to tie the match. It was the first set Plant had lost in the state tournament since 2004.

"I think we caught them off guard," said Winter Park senior Camille Indest, who had a team-high 14 kills.

"I don't think they realized how much fire and heart we have," said Winter Park's Kelsey Beck.

Plant didn't see it that way.

"We just had a lot of communication errors," said Martin, who will play for Penn State, the No. 1 ranked women's volleyball team in the nation. "They played an awesome match, but a lot of it was our errors."

Plant returns plenty of power with Johnson and juniors Tina Catanach and Callie Henley. Taylor said she's confident in a fifth straight title. Saturday, however, was about the seniors.

"I feel like we left our mark," McCurdy said. "We gave it our all. My high school career was blessed with championships."

"It's awesome to have just one state championship," Martin said, "but to have four is indescribable."

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 259-7851.

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