Benjamin bounced as Aguilera and Kinney clinch region final appearance for King's volleyball

WEST PALM BEACH — The stands in King’s Academy’s Loveland Athletic Center thundered on Friday night.

With every “Kelly Kinney kill!” that rang out from the announcer, Lions fans in the stands roared as the Minnesota outside hitter commit led No. 33 overall King’s to a 3-0 victory (25-16, 25-23, 25-23) over Benjamin.

"Unfinished business — Benjamin's one of our rival schools so it's always nice to have a little rivalry. The crowd was the biggest it's ever been so that was insane," said Kinney, a junior and third-year starter for the Lions, now 19-9 on the season.

The only thing better than bragging rights was securing a spot in the region finals. As Benjamin's season comes to an end, finishing 15-7, on Tuesday, King’s will travel to top-seeded Lake Highland Prep, which eliminated the Lions in a region semifinal sweep on its path to the Class 3A final four last fall.

Kinney’s revenge tour continues

Kinney led King’s with 19 kills against the Bucs, now ranking No. 10 in the division with 352 kills on the season. She also had five digs behind six for senior Amie Molina — who had the game-winning ace in the second set — and 11 for Katie Shelhamer.

Every point Kinney’s made this season has been a little more meaningful.

"I think I got my season taken away from me last year," Kinney said. Last fall, what should've been a 26-game season was cut to just 14 appearances for Kinney, who had an abdominal injury.

"Coming into the season, I knew that we could go far because of the people on our team and the coaching staff," Kinney said. "I really just wanted to leave it out on the court every single play in every single game we played."

"I think going into future games, too, I'm going to do that," Kinney said.

"Just knowing that I'm able to have the chance I got taken away from me last year is really motivating me right now."

Senior Devereaux Hoxsie — Kinney’s other half at the net and a key piece of the King’s offense — watched her teammate’s domination from the sideline, cheering for every point along the way. The William and Mary commit has been out for what will likely be the rest of the season with an ankle sprain.

"Obviously, I know what it's like to be in her shoes. I just feel bad. It's her senior year," Kinney said, remembering her own sister, Lily, having hers stunted by injury.

"I would never want to go through that," Kinney said.

"We're really missing a big piece to our team, but she's been a great teammate encouraging us and helping us when she can," senior Sofia Aguilera said. "I'm really proud of the mentality that she's taking with this."

"I think we've showed a lot of resilience knowing we're missing a key piece to our team."

Setters shine on both sides of the net

Hoxsie’s highs through the regular season and Kinney’s postseason payback wouldn’t be possible without a setter like Aguilera, a second-year team member at King’s.

Aguilera recorded a team-high 22 assists to help the Lions stay alive for another game. According to Aguilera, ranked No. 15 in 3A with 499 assists as of Friday, the Lions weren't certain what to expect, seeing as how the teams haven't met in two years.

"We knew they had a great hitter, Gracie [Havlicek], going to Auburn, but we weren't too sure.," Aguilera said. Havlicek's final performance as a Buc was supported by Benjamin setter Riley McCaughey, who reached 2,000 career kills to wrap up her sophomore season.

"Knowing this could be our last game, we put the pedal to the metal and gave it our all today," Aguilera said.

"Sofia, being a senior, knows it's her last year and she's really stepped up this year," Kinney said. "I'm really proud of her and I think she's a great leader on the court."

Saltalamacchia stuns in first game back

Junior right-side hitter Sidney Saltalamacchia helped Aguilera, in Kinney’s words, “glue” the offense together, adding 10 assists of her own, plus three kills in her first game back from injury.

Saltalamacchia returned from a tournament in Tampa in early September, sidelined indefinitely with an ankle tweak.

"She was just such a trouper. She was so positive and she was so eager to get back," Kinney said. "If I told you this was her first game back, I don't think you would know."

Aguilera matched Kinney almost word for word on Saltalamacchia's comeback.

"It was a fun game. We didn't stop playing once and I think that we won that game with our passion," Kinney said.

Aguilera, Kinney, Saltalamacchia and the rest of the Lions are looking forward to getting some more wins, eyes locked in what they hope will be the fourth state championship in program history.

Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Aguilera and Kinney propel King's volleyball to region finals, bounce Benjamin