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The Saint Leo women’s volleyball team is NCAA tournament bound — for the seventh year in a row, and a total of 11 times overall.

The Lions earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Division II South Region and will face No.4 seed Embry-Riddle in the opening round.

The eight-team regional begins Dec. 5, hosted by No. 1 seed Lynn, in Boca Raton.

Saint Leo enters the 2019 postseason with a 21-10 record and 12-8 mark in conference play. The team is riding a three-match winning streak, including a 3-1 victory over Embry-Riddle on Senior Night on Nov. 16.

Saint Leo had four wins against regional foes during the regular season, over No. 1 seed Lynn, No. 2 seed Tampa, No. 4 seed Embry-Riddle and No. 6 seed West Florida, respectively.

Saint Leo has advanced to two of the last four NCAA South Region semifinals, but is seeking a return to the championship match of the region for the first time since 2009.

The Hillsborough Harriers youth cross-country club is accepting runners in grades three through eight for its 5K winter training series. The series consists of five 5K races between January and April in the Tampa Bay area. Weekly workouts for the series are on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in the Lutz and Carrollwood area. The club currently has over 40 boys and girls runners, from beginners to some of the top age-group runners in the state. The boys team recently finished as the state’s top-ranked middle school cross country club team. Cost for the 5K series is $80 for new members. Registration includes a Harriers race uniform. For more information, visit HarriersXC.com.

Several local high school athletes ceremoniously signed on Nov. 13 their letters of intent to play college athletics — the beginning of the fall national signing period for every sport, with the exception of football.

Here is a roundup of known high school athlete signings in The Laker/Lutz News coverage area:

Academy at the Lakes
Softball: Jessica Mott — College of Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Volleyball: Victoria Rudolph — Roberts Wesleyan College (Chili, New York)

Land O’ Lakes
Baseball
Patrick Groark — Florida State College at Jacksonville
Dakota Harris — Polk State College
Trey Skidmore — University of South Carolina-Union
Soccer: Landon Craven — Huntingdon College (Montgomery, Alabama)
Softball: Bianca Potts — Enterprise State Community College (Enterprise, Alabama)
Tennis: Courtney Piltaver — University of Montevallo (Montevallo, Alabama)

Steinbrenner
Soccer
Gabriela Moore — Saint Leo University
Lauren Prentice — George Washington University (Washington, D.C.)
Mia Tarrant — University of Massachusetts
Softball: Kylie Liotine — Saint Leo University
Tennis: Olivia Jablonski — Samford University (Homewood, Alabama)

Sunlake
Baseball
JT Lambeta — Pasco-Hernando State College
Nick Plaisted — Pasco-Hernando State College
Lacrosse: Ryan Furlong — Canisius College (Buffalo, New York)
Soccer: Bryanna Joseph — Huntingdon College (Montgomery, Alabama)
Softball
Alyssa Cordoba — Ave Maria University (Ave Maria, Florida)
Jenna Gabriella — Georgia Gwinnett College
Daisy McQuain — Daytona State College
Swimming: Chloe Grimme — University of Florida

Wesley Chapel
Softball
Jordan Almasy — University of Central Florida
Ally Fraley — Pasco-Hernando State College
Morgan Herndon — Lake Sumter State College (Leesburg, Florida)

Wesley Chapel Martial Arts Academy had a strong showing at the Florida Tae Kwon Do Open Championships earlier this month in Palmetto. From left: Lenzy Sovine, 9, earned silver in forms and gold in Olympic sparring; Jeremy McMahon, 9, earned gold in forms and Olympic sparring; and, Matthew McMahon, 10, earned silver in forms and Olympic sparring. Wesley Chapel Martial Arts Academy owner Habib Fayiz stands with the children.

Zephyrhills High product Jeremy Oppenheimer recently scored his 1,000 career point as a member of the Southeastern University Fire basketball team. Oppenheimer, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, accomplished the feat in a 103-93 road loss to Bethel (Tennessee) University on Nov. 9.

Oppenheimer, a second-team All-Sun Conference selection last year, has averaged 12.5, 7.7 and 13.8 points per game each of the last three seasons with the Fire, an NAIA school in Lakeland.

Prior to Southeastern, Oppenheimer was best known for leading Zephyrhills to the 2016 5A state semifinals his senior year.

Wesley Chapel-based Pryor Baseball Farm has added former professional Giovanny Alfonzo to its coaching/instructional lineup.

Alfonzo played collegiate baseball at Florida State University and the University of Tampa (where he earned All-American honors and won a Division II National Championship), then was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 21st round of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft. Alfonzo, an infielder, went on to play five years of professional ball for the Marlins and New York Mets minor league organizations, as well as in the independent Atlantic League, with the Long Island Ducks and High Point Rockers, respectively.

Pryor Baseball Farm is a baseball school that offers lessons, classes and camps, for youth baseball and softball players.

The school is run by Ryan Pryor, a former varsity assistant coach at Wiregrass Ranch High School and Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School.

The Cypress Creek High varsity girls swimming and diving team recently captured the program’s first district championship — winning the 2019 FHSAA 2A-District 4 meet hosted by Crystal River High School at Lecanto YMCA and Bicentennial Park, on Oct. 26.

Make it a four-peat for the Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) women’s cross-country team.

The Bobcats last month claimed its fourth consecutive NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Region 8/FCSAA (Florida College System Activities Association) championship, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

The Bobcats, coached by Jacki Wachtel, posted a team score of 35 points, ahead of second-place place finisher Daytona Beach State College (50).

The Bobcats were paced by individual medalist and Steinbrenner High product Olivia D’Angelo, who won the 5K race for the second straight year in 19:53. Teammate Isabel Oliveto, a sophomore, finished second in 20:12. Other top PHSC runners included sophomore Grace D’Angelo (seventh, 21:23), freshman Katerina Dobkowski (10th, 21:32), sophomore Avery Mayer (12th, 22:02), sophomore Jordyn Avers (12th, 22:06), and sophomore Brenna Moran (13th, 22:30).

The Bobcats next travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the NJCAA Division I National 5K Championship on Nov. 9.