Berkeley not overlooking Cardinal Gibbons

Posted Nov 15, 2011 by Nick Williams

Updated Nov 15, 2011 at 12:55 PM

If Berkeley Prep wins Wednesday’s Class 4A state semifinals, they will most likely meet Orlando Bishop Moore in the state championship Thursday night. The teams met earlier this season in the Berkeley Premier final, when Berkeley won in five sets. Last year, Berkeley beat Bishop Moore in the 3A state semifinals, also in five sets.

With that kind of opponent anxiously waiting for revenge in the next round, Berkeley doesn’t want to overlook Ft. Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons in the semifinals. 

“It’s absolutely critical that we don’t do that,” Berkeley coach Randy Dagostino said. “They’re the most storied volleyball program in the state of Florida. We think we’re pretty good around here winning 14 state championships and Tampa Prep has 15, but they have 19. They have basically owned this state in their classification for just about as long as I’ve been coaching volleyball.”

“They have an outside (hitter), Leigh Andrew, who’s going to UNC, they have a middle (hitter) and a setter, also,” Mackenzie Dagostino said. “They’re very aggressive players, very consistent and we play them in club a bunch of times. You can never overlook any opponent that you ever play, no matter what their status is, what their rank is, because you never know what tricks they can pull out of their hat.”

This season, the Buccaneers captured its own Berkeley Premier, topping Orlando Bishop Moore in the final, finished second at the Asics Challenge in Chicago and won the Tampa Bay Invitational.