Middleton, Fla. — The Villages High School volleyball team made some program history with a postseason victory Tuesday night in Middleton.

The Buffalo earned just their second regional-round win — and their first since 2012 — with a 3-0 sweep over Cocoa Beach in the Class 3A-Region 2 quarterfinals, winning via 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18 decisions inside the VHS Gymnasium. 

With the win, VHS (14-12 overall) advances to the Class 3A-region 2 semifinals to face No. 1 overall seed Lake Highland Prep (19-5) at 5 p.m. Saturday night in Orlando.

"We talked all year that if we win one regional game, we've gone just as far as any team in our program's history," said Buffalo head coach Michele Moreman. "So, that's amazing and that should be celebrated. It wasn't done in quite the fashion I was hoping for tonight, I thought we could've played a lot better than we did, but it's still a win and we'll take it this time of year."

Viviana Toucet-Martinez got things going for VHS, who recorded kills on four of the first seven points of the night. The Villages took advantage of a 5-0 run midway through the frame to take the opening set.

Cocoa Beach (13-8) put up a fight in the second set, as the visitors from Brevard County led 11-8 early. But another 5-0 run for the Buffalo ultimately led to a 9-2 spurt, extending the VHS advantage to 17-13. 

The Minutemen responded with a 4-0 run of their own for a tie and eventually pulled even again at 18-18, but a strong stretch run by VHS — featuring highlight blocks from Toucet and Alexia Laws — with the former blocking set point back into the visitors' side of the floor — gave the Buffalo a 2-0 advantage.

The Buffalo closed out the sweep with a resounding start to the third and final frame, leading 7-1 early and later using a 6-0 run to cruise into the weekend's regional semifinal.

"We're thrilled going into the game on Saturday and to even be in this situation," Moreman said. "It's obviously going to be against the toughest opponent we've played all year, but it's a good chance to see where we're at. Let's see how we match up and maybe, just maybe, we can make some noise."


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.