Class 8A-7 at Durant
Favorite: Wharton. The Wildcats finished 24-1 in the regular season, losing only in a tournament final against a team from Lakeland. With Caci Andreychuk, Ashton Stocker, and Avery Day, Wharton has enough size, depth and athleticism to again overwhelm its district foes. If a Hillsborough public school wins a state title this year, it will almost certainly be Wharton.
Sleeper: Durant. The Cougars are the fourth-seed but have won 10 of their past 12 and fell just short in a five-set loss to Steinbrenner in the regular-season finale. They also pushed Wharton in a narrow four-set defeat last month. If they advance to meet the Wildcats in the semifinals, they’ll have homecourt advantage.
Schedule: Tuesday — No. 3 Bloomingdale vs. No. 6 Alonso, 6; No. 4 Durant vs. No. 5 Newsome, 7. Wednesday — No. 2 Plant vs. Bloomingdale-Alonso winner, 5; No. 1 Wharton vs. Durant-Newsome winner, 7. Thursday — Final, 7
Class 7A-8 at Brandon
Favorite: Riverview. The Sharks closed the season with a surprising 3-0 loss to Plant but had no troubles with district opponents. Only Brandon and Plant City managed to win a set against Riverview.
Sleeper: Plant City. The Raiders failed to win a set in their final two matches of the regular season but fared much better in district play. If they win their opening-round match against Tampa Bay Tech, that sets up a rematch against Hillsborough. The Terriers beat Plant City 3-1 on Oct. 11 but dropped the second set 25-8.
Schedule: Monday — No. 3 Plant City vs. No. 6 Tampa Bay Tech, 5; No. 4 Brandon vs. No. 5 East Bay, 7. Tuesday — No. 2 Hillsborough vs. Plant City-TBT winner, 5; No. 1 Riverview vs. Brandon-East Bay winner, 7. Thursday — Final, 7
Class 7A-9 at Gaither
Favorite: Steinbrenner. The Warriors lost only one set in their undefeated run through the district. But a lot has changed since they played the No. 2 (Wiregrass Ranch) and No. 3 (Freedom) seeds a month ago; it shouldn’t be so easy this time around.
Sleeper: Freedom. The Patriots have lost twice to Wiregrass Ranch this season. But in their match Oct. 11 at Wesley Chapel, Freedom fell three points short of pulling out the five-set victory. The Pats will get another chance on a neutral floor if they advance to the semis.
Schedule: Monday — No. 4 Chamberlain vs. No. 5 Gaither, 7. Tuesday — No. 2 Wiregrass Ranch vs. No. 3 Freedom, 6; No. 1 Steinbrenner vs. Gaither-Chamberlain winner, 8. Thursday — Final, 7
Class 6A-11 at King
Favorite: Strawberry Crest. The Chargers haven’t fared so well outside of league play, but were mostly dominant in District 11.
Sleeper: Sickles. The Gryphons must get past King in the semifinals, but if that happens, they get another shot at Strawberry Crest. They lost in five sets — dropping the final one 15-11 — to the Chargers on Oct. 3.
Schedule: Monday — No. 4 Armwood vs. No. 5 Jefferson, 5; No. 3 King vs. No. 6 Leto, 7. Tuesday — No. 1 Strawberry Crest vs. Armwood-Jefferson winner, 5; No. 2 Sickles vs. King-Leto winner, 7. Thursday — Final, 7
Class 5A-11 at Spoto
Favorite: Robinson. The Knights emerged from one of the area’s weakest districts without losing a set in four games.
Sleeper: Blake. The Yellow Jackets hadn’t won a match since October 2009 until beating Middleton 3-1 on Sept. 11. Now Blake is the No. 2 seed and playing with a lot of confidence under second-year coach Jamie Meerpohl.
Schedule: Monday — No. 4 Middleton vs. No. 5 Spoto, 7. Tuesday — No. 2 Blake vs. No. 3 Lennard, 6; No. 1 Robinson vs. Middleton-Spoto winner, 8. Thursday — Final, 7
Clas 4A-9 at Holy Names
Favorite: Berkeley Prep. As always, the Bucs are the class of their district and the county. Though they struggled against out-of-area teams under first-year coach John Coup, the Bucs won all their games against local teams and went undefeated in league play.
Sleeper: Holy Names. Though it’s unusual to think of the No. 2 seed as a sleeper, Holy Names upset Tampa Catholic in a five-set match on Oct. 10 and played strong late in their early-season loss to Berkeley Prep.
Schedule: Tuesday — No. 4 Sarasota Booker vs. No. 1 Berkeley Prep, 5:30; No. 3 Tampa Catholic vs. No. 2 AHN, 7. Thursday — Final, 7
Class 3A-8 at Seffner Christian
Favorite: Tampa Prep. The Terrapins won all four of their district matches and played a challenging non-league schedule, so they’re plenty battle-tested heading into the postseason.
Sleeper: Bishop McLaughlin. The Hurricanes get Brooks DeBartolo in the opening round, a team they’ve defeated three times this season. Then they could face Tampa Prep, which beat them 3-1 earlier this month.
Schedule: Monday — No. 4 Bishop McLaughlin vs. No. 5 Brooks DeBartolo, 6. Tuesday — No. 1 Tampa Prep vs. Bishop-BD winner, 5:30; No. 2 Carrollwood Day vs. No. 3 Seffner Christian, 7. Thursday — Final, 6:30
Class 2A-8 at Citrus Park Christian
Favorite: Bayshore Christian. The Warriors are the No. 2 seed but went 9-1 in district play, losing only to top-seed Cambridge Christian a month ago. They avenged that loss in a 3-0 sweep Oct. 9.
Sleeper: Academy at the Lakes. AATL has been uneven all season — reflected in its 5-5 league record — but came close to knocking off Bayshore in a 3-2 loss Oct. 2. They could get their rematch in the semis.
Schedule: Monday — No. 4 Hernando Christian vs. No. 5 Tampa Bay Christian, 5:30; No. 3 Academy at the Lakes vs. No. 6 Citrus Park, 7:30. Tuesday — No. 2 Bayshore Christian vs. AATL-Citrus Park winner, 5:30; No. 1 Cambridge vs. HCA-TBC winner, 7:30. Thursday — Final, 7
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Hillsborough: District volleyball primer
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