By Rod Gipson
Max Preps.com
The Berkeley Premier volleyball tournament routinely attracts the best in Tampa Bay-area volleyball. Unfortunately for the local squads, some of the nation's best teams were in attendance as well.
The result: Tampa Plant, the defending Class 5A state champion and ranked as high as 20th in national polls this season, placed fifth. And that was the best finish among the local teams.
All totaled, Plant, Plant City Durant, Tampa Prep, host Tampa Berkeley Prep and Tampa Academy of the Holy Names won just 10 of 25 combined matches. Mercy Academy of Louisville, Kentucky defeated Northview of Duluth Georgia for the overall tournament crown.
It was the third straight Berkeley Premier tournament championship for Mercy Academy. Gainesville Buchholz was third, followed by Evangelical Christian.
The top performances from the local squads came from Plant hitter Kellie Catanach, who averaged seven assists per game and Berkeley Prep libero Cristina Theofilos, who averaged 12 digs per match.
Tampa Jesuit performs well at Southern Stars
Arguably the best boys cross country squad in the Tampa Bay-area, Tampa Jesuit ran well enough to win the team title at the prestigious Southern Stars meet at Ed Radice Sports Complex in Tampa.
Conner Revord helped the Tigers to the team title by placing second among individual runners with a 15:38 time. He was nine seconds behind first-place runner Joseph Franklin of Tallahassee Godby.
But with Jordan Schilit placing 13th, the Tigers had enough high finishers to take the team championship. Another local runner with a good showing was Tampa Chamberlain's Mark Parrish, who placed seventh at 16:06.
On the girls side, Tampa Wharton had the best showing among the local girls teams, placing 12th overall. Wharton's Katrina Skinner ran to a personal-best time of 19:06 to place 16th overall but pace all Hillsborough County runners.
College signings/commitments
A core group of Tampa Chamberlain three straight state semifinals teams has announced their college plans. Seniors Mary Kate Smith, Gina Kafalas and Danielle Moreda have verbally committed to Stanford, USF and Saint Leo University, respectively.
Smith, an outfielder, batted .397 and knocked in 33 RBI. Kafalas, an outfielder, hit .295 and scored 25 runs. Moreda, an infielder, hit .340 and posted 19 RBI.
Meanwhile, Tampa Gaither libero Elissa Hausmann is headed to Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla. Hausmann, whose committment is only verbal right now, is currently second among Tampa-area players in digs with 6.6 per match.
