LAKE WORTH- Trinity Christian continued their solid start to the 2021 volleyball season with a straight sets win over Morningside on Friday night.  In a tightly contested match, the Warriors swept the Eagles 25-17, 25-20, 25-22.  

Junior Camila Fundora was dominant throughout the match, piling up 15 kills and added eight digs for TCA.  The Warriors had 27 kills overall, marking one of their best net games of the season.  Trinity was strong in service as well, posting 11 aces on the night.  Nataliya Lopez had four aces with Sarah Richardson and Sofia de los Mozos adding three a piece.  De los Mozos also compiled an impressive 28 assists to help pace the Warriors.

The win is the fourth in six games for the Warriors after an 0-2 start.  TCA is now 4-4 on the season.  Last year at this time, Trinity was 2-6 overall.  They will take on Santaluces on Thursday at home in their next match.

The JV won its third straight match, coming from behind late to beat the Eagles in three games.  

FORT MYERS- Trinity Christian Academy (Lake Worth) and Out-of-Door Academy (Sarasota) will square off on Wednesday in the FHSAA 2A state semifinals.  Here's a preview of the matchup.

Teams:  #6 Trinity Christian (17-7-2) vs. #4 Out-of- Door Academy (22-3)

When: Wednesday, May 19, 1:00 pm

Where: The game will be played at Centurylink Stadium in Fort Myers, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins and the minor league home of the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.  For those attending the game, the stadium is located at 14100 Six Mile Cypress Parkway.

Watching the Game: Tickets are available through GoFan for $9 online or can be purchased for $12 the day of the game at the stadium.  The game can also be live streamed at nfhsnetwork.com for $6.

Playoff History: Trinity is making its eighth trip to the state finals. The Warriors won back-to-back state championships in 2016 and 2017, and have advanced to Fort Myers in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, and now in 2021.  ODA will be playing in their first state finals.

The Road to State: The Warriors took an unusual path to state to say the least.  After winning 12 district titles in 12 appearance, Trinity was upset by Jupiter Christian 5-4 in the district finals.  Forced to go on the road for the regional opener, the Warriors downed #7 Seacrest Country Day 8-4.  Slated to have a rematch with Jupiter Christian in the semifinals, the Eagles were deemed ineligible by the FHSAA due to a pitch count violation which sent TCA to the finals.  Trinity capped the run with a big 12-7 win at Miami Christian to punch their ticket to state.

Out-of-Door cruised through their district but faced tough challenges from a pair of top 10 teams in the regional bracket.  Trailing #2 Canterbury 7-4 headed into the seventh, the Thunder came up with six runs to advance to the finals.  They defeated #9 Bishop McLaughlin 4-1 in the finals to earn their first state appearance.

ODA Overview: The Thunder has put up some gaudy numbers this season, both at the plate and on the mound.  ODA is hitting .329 as a team and have nailed 19 home runs.  Logan Tribble (Jr) has been the key to the Thunder offense, hitting .487 with 23 RBI.  Nolan Lewellen (Sr, .373), Carter Dierdorf (Jr, .380/4HR), and Tanner Fairchild (Sr., .302/5 HR) have also helped power the Out-of-Door attack.  The Thunder pitching has been impressive with a 1.55 ERA and 181 Ks in 151 innings.  Josh Cone (Jr) has been the workhorse for ODA with 44.2 innings and a 1.41 ERA and 60 Ks.  He won't be available for the matchup with TCA due to pitch county.  Luke Geske (Soph) is likely to take the ball for the Thunder.  The Miami commit has a 1.71 ERA and 37 K's in 32 innings.  Ryan Kelly (Sr), Dierfdorf, and Tyler Colditz (Sr) all have an ERA under 2.

TCA Overview: Trinity has played one of the toughest schedules in 2A and has come away with 17 wins.  The Warriors have eight of nine to close the season, including wins over Palm Beach Central and Montverde and a tie with nationally-ranked Calvary Christian.  Leading the charge for TCA has been sophomore standout Ariel Antigua.  The South Carolina commit is hitting .373 and is among the state leaders in RBI (38, 8th overall) and triples (6, 5th overall).  He was named the district hitter of the year.  Deshaughn Forbes (Jr) received all district honors as well and has posted a .323 average with four doubles and four triples.  Eddy Morel (Jr) and Jan Oquendo (Soph) both boast an average over .300.  Catcher Ryan Marrero (Sr) has been outstanding behind the plate, and has caught fire the second half of the season at the plate.  He has hits in his last nine games and is up to .278.  Junior Angelo Allievi was a revelation this year on the mound, going from part time starter/long reliever to ace after an outstanding shutout performance of West Boca early in the season.  The district pitcher of the year comes into the state finals with a  2.35 ERA, a 4-0 record, and 42 Ks in 38 innings.  Pierce Boles (Soph) has shown flashes of brilliance this season, posting a 2.47 ERA and winning both regional games for the Warriors.  He won't be available until Thursday, should the Warriors advance.  

Summary: When teams come from the opposite side of the state, it's hard to quantify strength of schedule and make comparisons.  Both teams have displayed strong pitching all season and are playing their best baseball right now.  Both teams have star power up and down the lineup.  Getting the lead early could make a big difference in the game and how it's managed.  With two top six teams matched up, expect a close game that could come down to the wire.

MIAMI- Trinity Christian baseball is headed back to the state finals for the eighth time in program history after defeating Miami Christian 12-7 in the regional final on Saturday.  The Warriors piled up nine hits and 10 walks in the win, led by Deshaughn Forbes' five-RBI outburst.

TCA took an 8-0 lead in the fourth after Forbes' bases-clearing double capped a rally.  Miami chipped away at the lead, however, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the sixth before Forbes came on to slam the door. The Warriors plated four insurance runs in the seventh to secure the state berth.  In addition to Forbes big day at the plate, Ariel Antigua added three RBI and Ryan Marrero and Jan Oquendo both had multi-hit days.  Pierce Boles went 4.2 innings and picked up the win in another solid outing by the sophomore right-hander.

The seventh-ranked Warriors (17-7-2) will square off with fifth-ranked Out-of-Door Academy (22-3) on Wednesday at Jet Blue Stadium in Fort Myers.  Angelo Allievi (4-0, 2.35 ERA) will take the ball for TCA.  He will likely oppose Luke Geske (4-0, 1.71 ERA) for OODA.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm and tickets can be purchased through GoFan.  The winner will advance to Thursday's final to take on the winner of Mount Dora Christian and St. John's Country Day.

12TH LAKE WORTH- Trinity Christian advanced to the district championship game on Tuesday with an emphatic 22-1 three inning win over rival Lake Worth Christian.  The Warriors piled up 14 hits and and nine walks en route to rout of the Defenders.

Angelo Allievi gave up a run early but then settled in nicely over his three innings of work, striking out four and giving up just the two hits.  Offensively, Jan Oquendo (3-3, 2 RBI), Eddy Morel (2-2, 3 RBI), and Ariel Antigua (2-2, 3 RBI) stood out for the Warriors.  Nine TCA hitters put a hit in the scorebook.

The win moved coach Miguel Cuello to 16-0 all time against Lake Worth Christian.  Cuello will vie for his 12th district title on Thursday night against Jupiter Christian.  A title would be the 14th for the program and would mark the sixth regional appearance this season for Trinity.

POMPANO BEACH- After going winless in the regular season, Trinity Christian shocked Highlands Christian 25-5 in the district semi-finals on Tuesday.  The Warriors bats came out on fire in the first inning as TCA posted 18 runs to coast to an easy win over the Knights.

A pair of home runs in the first inning were the big blows for the Warriors in the upset win.  Michaela Thomas hit an early three-run inside the park home run, and Izzy Dorsette hit a grand slam over the outfield fence for Trinity.  The TCA defense and pitching held Highlands at bay all afternoon in their best performance of the season.

The Warriors will take on Glades Day on Thursday in the district championship.

MONTVERDE- Trinity Christian rolled past national power Montverde Academy on Friday night, downing the Eagles 9-2 in a tune up for this week's district play.  Kyler Clarke was sharp on the hill, going four innings and allowing just one earned run on two hits.  

Offensively, it was the bottom of the TCA order that did the most damage for the Warriors.  Six of the eight hits for Trinity came from the sixth spot on.  Eddy Morel was 3-4 on the day and Oscar Diaz had a bases clearing triple to break the game open for the Warriors in the fourth.  TCA also drew a season-high 10 walks to fuel the nine run outburst.

Trinity opens district play on Tuesday at home, taking on the winner of Monday's Lake Worth Christian-Glades Day game.  With a win, the Warriors will advance to Thursday's championship game.

FT LAUDERDALE, - Thirteen Trinity Christian athletes advanced to the regional track meet on Saturday, highlighted by junior Eva Zelaya bringing home championships in the 1600m and 3200m races.  

The Warriors started off the day strong with the girls 4x800m relay team (Selena Avila, Janae D'Orazio, Nellie Fignole, and Jessica Machiela) taking third to qualify for regionals and the boys 4x800m relay team (Luke D'Orazio, Chris Gunterman, Paul Morrency, and Oscar de la Cruz) finishing  second to qualify as well.  Later the boys 4x100 relay team (Scotty Pollard, Logan Fyke, Sebastian Monde, and Gunterman) finished third to advance to the regional round as well.

In addition to Zelaya's stand out performance, seven Warriors qualified as individuals. Morrency finished fourth in the mile to move on to the next round.  Janae D'Orazio, Machiela, and Fignole all qualified in the 800m.  Gunterman and Luke D'Orazio both punched their ticket to regionals in the 3200m race.  Avila advanced in the 1600m race.  Tommy Myers qualified for regionals with a second place finish in the javelin.

Gunterman's regional qualifying performance makes him the lone TCA athlete to advance in the playoffs in three seasons this year.  He was on the district champion cross country and soccer teams as well.

The Warriors will run in the regional round on May 1.

LAKE WORTH- Trinity Christian won their second match of the season on Thursday, downing Boca Christian 25-16, 25-13, 25-13.  With Coach Merlin Theleus out of town, assistant coach Paul Farohk found some magic of his own in his head coaching debut.  

The Warriors shook off some early mistakes to take control of the match midway through the first game.  AJ Kuzmin and Shawn Hendricksen dominated on the attack with a series of kills that kept the Blazers on their heels all night.  Paul Morrency, an eighth grader playing up with the varsity, contributed two emphatic blocks late in the match to put an exclamation point on the win.  Luke D'Orazio and Alejandro Moscoso kept the offense on track throughout the game with a steady night setting the ball.

​The Warriors next match will be Tuesday night at home against Olympic Heights.  Game time is 6:00 pm.

JUPITER- Trinity Christian won for the ninth time in 11 games as they throttled Jupiter Christian 9-1 on Tuesday.  The Warriors pitching gave up just two hits and the balanced offense picked up RBIs from five different players in the win.

Justin Dambruck gave the Warriors an early lead with a line drive home run to center field in the second inning.  From that point, the game was a pitcher's duel through five innings with TCA clinging to a 2-1 lead behind a great start from Allievi.  Trinity busted the game open in the sixth inning, however, with RBI hits from Dylan Chappell and Eddy Morel. Allievi tacked on two more RBI late to give the Warriors an insurmountable lead.  Seth Walcott and DeShaughn Forbes closed out the game with a solid inning a piece.

With the win, the Warriors improved to 9-4-1 on the season.  They will face nationally-ranked Calvary Christian on Friday afternoon.  

LAKE WORTH- Angelo Allievi shut out West Boca High School on Tuesday night, using just 73 pitches to stymie the Bulls 5-0.  The junior southpaw struck out eight and gave up two hits on the night.  He helped his own cause by going 2-3 at the plate with two RBI.

Allievi was sharp early as he struck out the side in the first. The Warriors got on the board in the bottom half of the inning on an Oscar Diaz RBI single. Trinity plated another run in the fourth inning with Allievi getting the first of two hits.  The big inning for TCA came in the sixth as they pushed across three runs with RBI coming from Allievi and Jan Oquendo.  

With the win, the Warriors improved to 6-2-1 on the season.  After starting the year 0-2, Trinity is unbeaten in the last seven games.  They will put that streak on the line on Friday night as they travel to Coconut Creek to take on North Broward Prep.