Palm Harbor University High Volleyball Breaks Plant Jinx

The Plant High Panthers are volleyball royalty. Five straight state titles brings a mystique to a team that is palpable.

However, for every rise, there's a fall.

The Panthers are not only coming off five consecutive titles, they are coming off five consecutive, playoff-round knockouts of Palm Harbor University High. Eventually, something had to give.

On Wednesday night, it gave.

PHUH raced out to leads of 7-2 and then 9-4 early in game one. Junior outside hitter Lee Nielsen went to work, pounding away at the Panthers defense with her team playing virtually error-free around her.

"We really played as one tonight," Nielsen. "Me being pumped up comes from the team."

Nielsen was on fire Wednesday night, tallying 16 kills over just a three-game match.

"She blasted it tonight; she's nearly unstoppable when she's playing like that," said Hurricanes head coach Tara Kuk.

PHUH took game one 25-15.

It came out in game two and picked up right where it had left off, jumping out to a 16-10 lead, then a 20-12 lead before Panthers head coach Amy Rumore called a timeout.

"I was telling the blockers that they needed to get off the ground," Rumore said. "The speed that (the Hurricanes) were operating their offense with made it so we couldn't double block every time."

PHUH also did a great job of moving the sets around the court and disguising which hitter it would go to.

The Hurricanes rolled Plant 25-16 in game two.

"The way they were playing, we couldn't wait around for them to make a mistake," Rumore said.

PHUH continued its near-flawless play into game three. After junior hitter Logan Miller notched her tenth kill, the Hurricanes were up 10-5, and the Panthers could not match PHU's intensity and teamwork. The Panthers fell 25-11 in game three and thus ended their five-year run of state titles.

Plant packs up for the season, but PHUH moves on to a rematch next week with East Lake, the defending Class 5A state champions.