Matanzas hands Seabreeze its first volleyball loss of the season

Sanigh Arneaud racked up 16 kills as the Pirates won in four sets to end the Sandcrabs' eight-match win streak.

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Going into their home volleyball match against Seabreeze on Thursday night, Sept. 11, Matanzas outside hitter Sanigh Arneaud and her teammates looked over the Sandcrabs’ record. What they saw was a zero in the loss column.

The Pirates already had motivation for winning this match. It was Senior Night. Handing Seabreeze its first loss of the season only added to their incentive, especially after losing a match in straight sets to Father Lopez a week earlier.

Arneaud's 16 kills helped Matanzas (4-2) end Seabreeze’s eight-match winning streak with a four set victory — 25-11, 12-25, 25-12, 25-21.

Matanzas honored seniors Olivia Chochev and Nevaeh Walker before the match.  

“My goal tonight was to win for my seniors,” Arneaud said. “I love my team. We've definitely hit a few bumps, but we’ve been able to work through it.”

Chochev and Walker played the entire first set and helped the Pirates take a 1-0 lead,” Matanzas coach Julie Menendez said.

“I am more than proud of this team,” Menendez said. “They’ve fought sickness and fatigue, but they wanted to win for the seniors.”

“It’s hard to play against a team on their Senior Night,” Seabreeze coach Janet Bruce said. “They were hyped up.”

Bruce said Arneaud was the best hitter the Sandcrabs have seen this year.

The junior repeatedly leaped high off the ground to put away shots, but she also showcased her all-around game.

“She’s a great passer too,” Bruce said. “She has the whole package.”

Menendez agrees.

“This was Sanigh’s best game with her defense, passing, all-around,” Menendez said. “But our player of the game was our libero — Aliyah Lugo-Navas. She was all over the court. She saved our team a lot. When it should have been Seabreeze’s point, she was there to get it.”

The Sandcrabs have shown resilience all season, winning three of their matches in five sets. After the Pirates stormed out with a decisive first-set victory, Seabreeze bounced back to tie the match at 1-1.


We were playing at our own speed, not their’s. They were a very scrappy team. We just had to hit where they weren’t, hit it fast so they couldn’t react.
— SANIGH ARNEAUD

But the Pirates kept up the pressure, winning the final four points of the fourth set to win the match.

“They’re very skilled and very conditioned,” Menendez said of the Sandcrabs. “And we’ve never been to five sets. I think the girls did a great job adjusting to the changing ways they were playing.”

Arneaud said the Pirates tried to end each play fast.

“Fast hits, smart plays,” she said. “We were playing at our own speed, not their’s. They were a very scrappy team. We just had to hit where they weren’t, hit it fast so they couldn’t react. We had to work through a lot of silly plays and mistakes, but we didn’t want to go to a fifth set.”

The Sandcrabs are off until Sept. 23 when they visit Mainland. The Pirates host three games in three nights next week against St. Augustine (Sept. 16), Pedro Menendez (Sept. 17) and Atlantic (Sept. 18). Matanzas will play its fifth home match in a row on Sept. 23 against county rival Flagler Palm Coast.

 

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