Lady Pirates Class 2A “Public School State Champs”

By Clint Cox

For the second straight season the Sneads Lady Pirates saw their bid to advance to Lakeland for the FHSAA Volleyball Final Four cut short by the Maclay Lady Mauraders. Maclay ousted the Lady Pirates in three straight sets for a 3-0 victory. That said, Sneads can lay claim to being the “Public School State Champs,” as they were the only public school to make it to the final 8 teams in the Class 2A playoffs.

Set one saw Maclay jump out to an early lead and never look back. Maclay was up 10-2 when Jordan Jackson’s block for a point gave the Lady Pirates their 3rd point of the game. Meagan Smith’s kill later on made it a 16-6 set in favor of Maclay. Smith helped the Lady Pirates muster three points in a row late in the set but Maclay still claimed a 25-13 win. The second set was much closer as Sneads hung with the Lady Mauraders throughout the set. Smith recorded 5 kills as Sneads stayed within a couple of points of Maclay but could not take the lead. A tap over by Kara Alford tied the set at 18-18 but Maclay then outscored Sneads 7-2 to post a 25-20 win. In the third set Sneads got their first lead of the match and a kill by Smith made it a 5-2 lead. Another kill by Smith made it 9-5 but then Maclay began to battle back. The Lady Mauraders tied the set at 11-11 and then began to pull away. Sneads trailed 17-12 but then reeled off back to back points including a service ace by Ashley Smith. But three points was as close as the Lady Pirates could get and Maclay went on to win 25-19.

For Sneads fans the loss to a private school in the FHSAA playoffs for the second straight year rekindled the frustrations of many public school fans, coaches and administrators regarding public schools and private schools meeting in the playoffs. Sneads Head Coach Shelia Roberts echoed those feelings. “It is very frustrating that we have to come to Tallahassee and play a private school for the state playoffs. It’s not right and they ought to fix it,” said Roberts. (See Simply Put on this page for more about this issue).

Even with the disappointing loss to Maclay the Lady Pirates had another outstanding season. The “Public School State Champs” finished the season with a record of 25–7. The Lady Pirates, under the direction of Coach Roberts, have now made the playoffs for seven straight seasons. They have produced three straight 20 plus win seasons and have a combined record in the last three years of 65-26.