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With what Venice has accomplished on the national stage this season, a state championship should have been at the end.  However, Tallahassee Leon derailed those plans as the Lady Lions used blocking and digging to sweep the Lady Indians, 25-23, 25-11, 25-22, and abruptly end Venice’s season in the FHSAA Class 5A state semifinals on Wednesday at The Lakeland Center.

The end of a dream came up short for Venice’s six seniors.

Blocking, which has been Venice’s go-to defense of the season, was missing against Leon.

The Lady Indians failed to record a block in the match while the Lady Lions finished with 14 blocks.

Venice also struggled all match to get a ball to hit the floor as Leon players laid their bodies out all over the court to dig the Lady Indians’ shots.

“They were touching everything they possible could (at the net),” said Venice senior Jillian Allen. “They were very scrappy tonight.”

Venice head coach Brian Wheatley was proud of his team this year in what they accomplished.

“They put Venice High on a national level,” said Wheatley as the team placed eighth in the prestigious ASICS Challenge in Chicago.

“Chicago was amazing and making it to the final four was amazing,” said senior Emily Daniels, who had nine kills and 13 digs. “I’m just proud of us. I don’t regret anything about this team except not playing our best tonight. I think we were playing not to lose other than to win. That was our only real mistake.”

Wheatley, in his 16th year, knows his offense needed to be better.

“We just couldn’t get in synch with our offense, which has pretty much carried us this year,” said Wheatley. “They did a great job of attacking us and keeping us out of system. We hit .056 as a team, which I would say that maybe one our lowest hitting percentages of the year. It’s tough to compete when you barely hit over zero.”

Venice had more kills, 39-36, than Leon but the Lady Indians also had 31 errors compared to eight for the Lady Lions.

Helping the Lady Lions was the fact this was their fourth straight trip to the final four and it showed from the midway point of the first game. Leon led 8-7 before rattling off eight straight points to grab a 16-7 lead just 11 minutes into the match.

“I think the experience that Leon had of being here the last three years absolutely helped them and prepare them for tonight’s match,” said Wheatley. “(Leon coach) Joy (Becker) does a great job with their team and they are very well disciplined. They played an overall better game than us.”

The Lady Indians didn’t go quietly as they rallied from the nine-point deficit to eventually tie the first game at 22-22 on a lift violation by the Lady Lions (25-5). A kill by junior Autumn Duyn, who had nine in the first game, gave Venice its first lead, 23-22. Leon scored the next three points including a kill, hitting error by Venice and block by Taylor Vaughn to give them a 1-0 advantage.

“I think it would have been a huge difference,” said Allen about winning the first game. “We would have had the momentum. It would have got us going. I definitely think it would have been a different ball game if we would have got that first game.”

The second game turned out to be Venice’s worst of the season.

The Lady Lions jumped out early and kept the pressure on Venice as the Lady Lions limited Duyn to one kill in the second game.

“They did have pretty good blocking,” said Duyn. “We were out of system and it’s harder to get a good approach and strong swing when it’s coming from a different area.”

“They were definitely prepared on defense,” said Wheatley. “We weren’t swinging as hard as we normally do. The outside attack is huge. They have to terminate balls. It all goes back to the two contacts before that as well. Our outside (hitters) have carried us all year and have done a great job of making plays. When we were able to swing tonight, we were very successful.”

In the second game, Venice had errors while Leon had 10 kills including five by Marcella Desloge and just one hitting error.

“They have a setter (Molly Pearce) that does a great job of mixing things up and moving the floor around,” said Wheatley. “Obviously, Alex Johnson is one of the best players in the state.

Johnson, who signed with the University of Miami, finished with 14 kills and 15 digs. Pearce, who signed with the University of West Florida, had 30 assists and 13 digs. Both players were starters for last year’s final four team.

The 11 points in the second game was the fewest by Venice all season. The team’s previous low was 15 against Tampa Berkeley Prep on Sept. 26.

“We couldn’t get a swing really,” said Venice setter Taylor Capasso, who had 33 assists and seven digs. “Tonight we just couldn’t get it rolling.”

Venice tried to change its lineup in the third game by inserting different players.

“We wanted to give them a new look,” said Wheatley. “This match really wasn’t about match-ups. It was just a matter of this whole year, it’s rare if we actually had the best player on the floor. Usually we have the best team on the floor. We are a team. Everyone has to be rolling and moving and making the right decisions. Where one or two of those facets veer off ,then it’s tough for us to stay in synch.”

Wheatley tried not to focus on what Leon was doing but had to figure out what his team had to do better.

The third game was tied nine times. Venice had its biggest lead of the match at 18-16 on a kill by Daniels.

“I was real proud of them, to get beat like they did in the second game, then to come back and compete in the end there,” said Wheatley. “We just didn’t get the swings we needed.”

Leon then scored seven straight points with two blocks and a kill by Vaughn and two kills by Wavie Chin to grab a 23-18 lead.

“We weren’t making runs at points,” said Wheatley. “We didn’t make enough points consecutively at a time. Leon did a great job of putting points together and keeping the pressure on to score.”

Venice got within three points but no closer as a kill by Johnson ended the match.

This was the third meeting between the teams.

“We split (matches), so it was a matter of who was going to come out in the other team’s head,” said Wheatley. “That’s how it’s been the last two matches. First time we wanted to destroy them, the second time they wanted to destroy us. Anytime you get on a stage like this. It’s the team that usually that keeps things together (that wins). We didn’t really keep things together like we have all season.”

Allen had nine kills while Morgan Shattuck ended with four kills. Libero Dorothy Rahal closed out her career with 28 digs.

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