Prep volleyball: CSN falls in five sets in Class 5A-District 10 championship

Playing Bishop Verot for the second straight year in the Class 5A-District 10 championship, the Community School of Naples volleyball team fell in five sets (25-8, 25-16, 25-18, 25-15, 15-8) to the Vikings on Thursday night.

"We had players make plays when we needed it," Bishop Verot coach John Leonard said. "Selina Pfuner was the one that stepped up, carried us on her shoulders and took us to the championship."

Coming into the district final on a seven match winning streak, the Seahawks rallied back from two sets down to force a fifth and final set.

"I'm very proud of my girls," CSN coach Alicia MacIntyre said. "I have a young team from eighth grade to seniors and they put everything out on the floor. We came out slow and to come back the way they did, you can't ask any more than that from an athlete."

The Vikings will host 5A-9 runner-up Cardinal Mooney, and CSN will travel to champion Berkeley Prep on Tuesday.

"I want our girls to take that fire that they got from that game we just loss and use it," MacIntrye said. "We're a better team than when we played them last year and I think we have a good shot." 

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Verot made the state semifinals a year ago, but are an entirely different team after losing a group of seniors and bringing in a new coach.

"We have a lot of solid players, but we don't have the height we used to have, the power and the experience," Verot's Alyssa Collins said. "I think this year we have a better chemistry and sometimes that can take you farther than any skill can."

The Vikings got going early in the first set, taking the first seven points of the set to go on and win 25-8.

After being dominated in the first set, the Seahawks showed some fight in the second set, battling back and forth with the Vikings, splitting the first eight points.

Despite CSN gaining momentum at various points, Verot put together a run to take the second set 25-16.

Denying every run that the Vikings made after starting the set with a 10-5 lead, the Seahawks led by as many as nine to take the third set 25-18.

After the Vikings cut their lead to four, 15-11, the Seahawks put together a run of their own to come back and take the fourth set 25-15.

Splitting the first 10 points of the final set, the Vikings put together a run to overcome the Seahawks comeback effort and take the final set 15-8.

For the Vikings, Pfuner led the way with 23 kills and 17 digs, followed by Alyssa Collins' 24 digs and Kenzie Leonard added 24 assist.

Cassidy Bloom led the Seahawks with 11 kills and 13 digs, followed by Caroline Costa's 37 assist and 11 digs, and Brielle Bellamy added 11 kills.