After two days of regional quarterfinal volleyball, five Brevard County teams are left standing as the regional semifinals in all classes take place on Oct. 24.
Four of the five regional semifinal matches will take place in Brevard with Viera hitting the road to face Osceola in Class 5A.
Brevard HEAT and Merritt Island Christian square off in Class 1A, Merritt Island hosts Lake Highland Prep in Class 3A and Satellite faces River Ridge in Class 4A.
Here’s a preview of the four regional semifinals.
Class 1A, Region 2
(6) Merritt Island Christian at (2) Brevard HEAT, 2 p.m. at Pineapple Cove West Melbourne
Merritt Island Christian and Brevard HEAT will square off for the fourth time this season. The Cougars hope to break through and pull off a second upset win after they took down No. 3 seed International Community. Brevard HEAT seeks a fourth head-to-head win after defeating No. 7 seed Orlando Christian Prep.
Brevard HEAT increased its margin of victory in all three meetings. On Aug. 27, it was a five-set win as junior Brooklynn Elder and senior Aine Hanley spiked 10 kills and sophomore Charis Bennett and junior Audrina Olsen finished with six kills.
Firehawks senior Anna Livengood tallied 20 assists, 19 digs and six aces. Junior Kianne Amelunge posted 14 assists, 10 digs and four aces. Senior Haley Cowling led the defense with 33 digs and Elder blocked four shots.
Merritt Island Christian senior Emma Weilnau recorded 14 kills and senior Julia Rhodes finished with 11 kills. Junior Kylie Storevik tallied a double-double of 27 assists and 15 digs and senior Sophie Gruber posted 25 digs.
On Oct. 6, Brevard HEAT dropped the first set 22-25 to Merritt Island Christian before the winning the next three sets 25-14, 25-7, 25-19. Bennett and Hanley combined for 19 of the team’s 37 kills. The Firehawks served 18 aces as Elder, Hanley and Amelunge finished with four aces each. Cowling and senior Audrey Koubek served three aces.
In the most recent meeting on Oct. 12, the Firehawks swept the Cougars in the district semifinals. Bennett and Elder spiked 11 kills each as Hanley dished out a dozen assists. Cowling dug 27 balls and senior Brooke Arce recorded five blocks. Merritt Island Christian got five kills from Weilnau and Rhodes and three kills from senior Kiana Montecalvo.
Brevard HEAT eyes its third-straight regional final appearance. Merritt Island Christian seeks its first in a decade.
Class 3A, Region 2
(4) Lake Highland Prep at (1) Merritt Island, 2 p.m.
Merritt Island and Lake Highland Prep will meet for the second time this season after the Mustangs swept Space Coast and the Highlanders won in four sets at The Villages Charter.
Merritt Island bounced back from dropping the first set at Lake Highland Prep on Sept. 30 to win in four 19-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-15.
The Mustangs spiked 50 kills and served 11 aces. Senior Amber Ives assisted 42 kills as juniors Ema Michell and Lydia Scott posted double-doubles. Michell tallied 16 kills and 14 digs. Scott finished with 13 kills and 15 digs. Senior Reece Loggins recorded 13 digs and three aces.
Merritt Island hopes to continue its pursuit of a state title and advance to a regional final for the seventh consecutive season.
Class 4A, Region 2
(3) River Ridge at (2) Satellite, 12:30 p.m.
Satellite won its eighth match in the last nine, all via sweeps, after beating No. 7 seed Lecanto. The Scorpions host No. 3 seed River Ridge after the Knights swept Weeki Watchee in the first round of the state playoffs.
River Ridge freshman Maysen Way and sophomore Ava Taylor lead the team in every major category. Way spiked 423 kills, which ranks in the top 15 in the state, to go with 362 assists, 62 aces and 62 blocks. Taylor leads the team with 486 assists, 318 digs and 64 aces and is second with 336 kills.
The Scorpions will look to counter with their depth as four players have recorded at 100 kills in sophomore Harper Lanza and Kenzie Little, senior Lily Ruda and junior Lily Sigety.
Satellite seeks its first appearance in a regional final in five years.
Class 5A, Region 2
(4) Viera at (1) Osceola, 2 p.m.
Viera hits the road to face reigning regional champion Osceola. The Kowboys are led by senior Brooklyn Sippio and freshman Maddy Sippio.
Brooklyn entered the state playoffs with a team-high 434 kills. Maddy followed her with 262 kills. Sophomore Natalya Turcios tallied 740 assists and 58 aces. Junior Leah Nieves served 60 aces to go with 205 digs. Defensively, sophomore Soraya Jean finished with 340 digs and junior Kimora Richardson produced 75 blocks.
The Hawks received contributions from all over the floor in the win over Lake Howell. Viera junior Emery Hart tallied 11 kills, 15 digs, six aces and one block. Junior Addi Casey spiked nine kills and sophomore Ava Sarratt finished with seven kills.
Behind the service line, senior Brooke Pickel recorded four aces and junior Libby Williams and senior Allie Brown served two aces each. Williams and Brown combined for 31 assists. Senior Piper Garry ended the match with 18 digs.
Viera seeks its fifth regional final appearance in the last six years.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Five Brevard teams seek place in volleyball regional final