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Plant falls to Venice in Berkeley Premier title match

 
Published Sept. 18, 2016

TAMPA — Plant may not have won the Berkeley Premier title match, but its pretty a safe bet that the Panthers will get better from the experience.

Because sometimes a loss to a tough opponent — this time 25-16, 26-24, 26-24 on Saturday to Venice — can make a team that much more determined.

"It was great that we got to the championship match, but it was disappointing that we didn't play better against Venice," Plant volleyball coach Margeaux Sinibaldi said. "If we want to take it to the next level then we must play better than we did in this match."

Particularly at tight, late moments in the second and third sets when the Panthers (11-1) had chances to win, but instead missed on key passes or kill opportunities.

"We have to do better in those situations," Sinibaldi said.

Overall in the 16-team tournament, Plant played better than any school from the Tampa Bay area, going 4-1 and dropping only one set before its straight-set loss to Venice.

The next-best performance from an area team went to Berkeley Prep, which finished sixth after dropping its final match in five sets to Trinity Catholic.

"We need to play more tough matches like we had in this tournament," Berkeley Prep coach Randy Dagostino said of his team that finished 2-3 in the tournament and dropped to 8-3 on the season. "We need these matches where we have to fight and fight and learn to get through that."

Carrollwood Day (8-4) finished eighth and played pretty well, but like Plant and Berkeley Prep, the Patriots struggled at times against the relentlessly stiff competition of the tournament.

At the end of the day, however, Plant, Berkeley Prep and Carrollwood Day all are in the state-title hunt conversation in their respective classifications — Plant in 8A, Berkeley Prep in 5A and CDS in 3A.

"We did a lot of great things in this tournament," Sinibaldi said. "We had some great moments. But we also learned that there are some areas where we need to improve. We can get stronger from this experience."