By Kyle Coppola
Lake Minneola High Volleyball Win District Chaampionship
CLERMONT, Fla. — Lake Minneola High School captured the Class 6A District 4 Championship title, defeating Horizon 3-1 in a nail-biting contest Thursday night. It was a thrilling matchup but ultimately the Hawks would prevail.
The Hawks (15-2) secured the district crown in a game that came down to the wire. Both sides delivered intense defensive performances, but it was Lake Minneola’s ability to capitalize in key moments that ultimately made the difference.
In a tense first half, Horizon kept right with Lake Minneola with the Hawks eventually winning the first set 25-20. Camila Antonsanti-Soto played a fantastic game, as did Brooke Larson. In between sets captain’s Rylee Townsend and Ella Bachmann encouraged the girls to keep up the pace as did head coach Omar Soto. Set two was much closer. The teams exchanged the lead multiple times and the set would continue for a few extra points before Horizon would win 28-26. It was tense to start set 3 as both teams knew they had the championship within their grasp.
With the championship on the line, Horizon threw everything they had at Lake Minneola in set 3. However, Lake Minneola’s back court held strong. The set would be even at 24-24 and would take multiple attempts to reach a win by two situation. Once teams reach 24 they have to make sure to win by two. The teams exchanged blow for blow and somehow Lake Minneola was able to get the upper hand and win 30-28. Although Lake Minneola was up Horizon was still determined to win the championship.
In what would be the final set Horizon needed to take set 4 to set up a deciding 5th set but it was not to be. Lake Minneola High was just a hair too strong and they would take set 4 by a score of 26-24.
It was an incredible performance by the Lady Hawks. This is a big deal for this program. Shoutout to the players and coaches and support these girls have had all season long.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
