First Coast Varsity Weekly: Young Bishop Kenny volleyball makes opening-week statement
Down one attacking leader — yet up on the scoreboard.
The result is a message to the state: If Bishop Kenny can knock off a volleyball power like Bartram Trail while playing without Ally Cavanaugh, how potent will the Crusaders become when she comes back?
"I'm truly proud of the team for coming together tonight, and fighting back," Bishop Kenny head coach Suzanne Winkler said. "Those game scores going that long and some of those rallies were epic-worthy."
Bishop Kenny opened its season with an acid test and passed with flying colors for a 17-25, 29-27, 28-26, 25-23 win against Bartram Trail in Thursday night's clash of traditional volleyball powers inside the John A. Baldwin Athletic Center.
High school volleyball: Teams, players to watch for 2022
Bartram Trail controlled the first, paced by Jenna Otts (14 kills) and Sydney Lewis (10 digs, 10 assists), before the Crusaders found their rhythm.
Without injured Georgia-committed senior Cavanaugh, who has blasted more than 250 kills in each of her first three seasons, a younger wave of BK attackers made an impact. Sophomore Olivia Ryno led the attack with 13 kills, while juniors Cami Labyak and Claudia Stockard contributed 11 apiece.
"I think we really came together to push through. Especially not having Ally, that was a big thing," senior libero Sarah Seabrooke said. "We had to come together."
Weather scrambles opening schedule
It's football 101: Every game has four quarters.
Unless it doesn't.
Weather played havoc with football's opening week, truncating several games in Jacksonville and dozens of others statewide and giving coaches and athletic directors a crash course in the Florida High School Athletic Association's regulations on interrupted games — namely, FHSAA Procedure 4.7.1.1.1 (c) (2).
Around Week 1: Bishop Kenny, Creekside, Riverside among winners
Did a game halted early by storms really happen? Under association regulations, yes.
FHSAA rules make no provision for voiding a weather-suspended game that has already begun. Instead, schools must choose to either mutually agree to end the game as official with the score as it stands at the time of the suspension, or agree to resume the game at the point of interruption, whether the next day or a different mutually acceptable date.
Falling into the first category were Gainesville Oak Hall's 6-0 win over St. Joseph, stopped in the second quarter; Bishop Snyder's 17-6 win over Stanton, stopped in the third quarter; and Episcopal's 35-7 win over Christ's Church, also stopped in the third quarter.
But one game that will return to action is Bradford's matchup with Baker County. That game, halted in the second quarter, will restart during the teams' mutual bye week on Oct. 6, with Bradford leading 21-0 in Tornadoes coach Jamie Rodgers' return to Macclenny.
Speedy start for Bulldogs' Burroughs
Take the numbers from his high school football debut, multiply by a 10-game regular season, then four years of high school football.
The result: Naeem Burroughs is on pace for 7,120 career receiving yards. Yes, that would be a record.
Unreachable? Probably. But the way the fleet-footed Bolles freshman opened his high school career Friday against St. Augustine, the sky looks like the limit.
Burroughs, a highly-anticipated prospect even in his middle school years, introduced himself to the high school scene by catching a 77-yard bomb from quarterback D.J. Moore and ended the night with six passes for 176 yards in the Bulldogs' 34-13 win at Foots Brumley Stadium.
The younger brother of former Super 11 Raines receiver Quincy Burroughs, now in his freshman year at Cincinnati, he's already attracting attention as a Florida prospect in the 2026 recruiting class.
Generals on the march
When is a home opener not quite a home opener?
For Riverside, when the kickoff actually occurs about 10 minutes northwest at Paxon, rather than on the Generals' home campus.
Stadium renovations forced the Generals to move their opener against Westside from the Backyard to Paxon's campus to the north.
It's not the first time the Generals have had to relocate their games. In 2011, the school spent much of its schedule at Paxon or at nearby White.
The road trips aren't finished for Riverside, which will also play at Paxon during Friday's game against Parker.
Bolles runners still going strong
Is the Bolles girls cross country machine slowing down in 2022? Not a chance.
The defending Florida High School Athletic Association champions retained their spot atop the standings at Saturday's Cecil Field Summer Classic.
Class 2A individual champion Jillian Candelino placed second in the elite girls race at 18:13, while teammates Ella Mickler, Elizabeth Csikai, Estella Bruneau and Lexi Henderson all broke 20 minutes.
Creekside placed first in the boys race with 77 points. Tanner Simonds led the Knights at 15:36, closely followed by Jack Dravo, Hudson Finocchio, Jacob Harvey and Jack Zurn at 16:05 or under.
Meanwhile, Graham Myers turned his first race at a new school into a team record. The junior, who transferred from St. Johns Country Day to Fleming Island during the summer, ran 15:36 at Cecil Field to set a Golden Eagles school mark.
Patrick Koon of Tallahassee Leon (15:11) and Elli Black of Cambridge Christian (17:46) won the overall titles.
In Bunnell, Nease's Wyatt Pittman and Sam Myers both placed in the top three to lead the Panthers to the Spikes-N-Spurs Classic title at the school's first meet since the graduation of three-time state champion Rheinhardt Harrison. Reigning Class 3A champion Ponte Vedra won the girls meet, led by Daisy Ross (20:42) and Sofia Bushkell (21:07).
Cross country: Teams, runners to watch
Washington, Shattles win MaxPreps honors
A pair of two-time champions are capturing national attention this week.
Ponte Vedra middle Zeta Washington and setter Jessica Shattles were selected to the MaxPreps preseason All-America team for volleyball this week, on the first and second teams, respectively.
Washington, committed to Cincinnati, entered the season with 775 career kills and 123 blocks, while Shattles, committed to New Hampshire, collected 2,262 assists in her first three years.
The two linked up again in the Sharks' season-opening sweep of 2021 regional finalist Ridgeview, with Washington tallying eight kills and four blocks and Shattles providing 25 assists.
On Monday, both Shattles and Washington were also selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America watch list for seniors.
Joining them on the list were Bishop Kenny's Cavanaugh and Seabrooke; Grace Albaugh of Bolles; Felicity Acosta and Ella Johns of Fernandina Beach; Alani Salas-Garcia and Mia Watson of Mandarin; and Xia Martin of University Christian.
Baldwin's Week 1 streak rolls on
At Baldwin, some things just don't change.
Pick-sixes by Octavius Barnes and Cortez Martinez helped the Class 2S school open its season with a 34-14 victory over Wolfson, stretching a winning streak in season openers to six games.
Baldwin hasn't lost a season football opener since 2016, a six-year Week 1 streak that's best in Northeast Florida. Bartram Trail, Episcopal, Oakleaf and Sandalwood have each won their last five openers.
Meanwhile, the 0-1 feeling is all too familiar for Orange Park. The Raiders have lost six consecutive Week 1 games after their 45-8 defeat to Oakleaf.
Beachside, Impact tally first points
Enter Drew Aldrich and Tristan Kelly in the record books this week.
Week one wasn't quite a winner for Beachside and Impact Christian, who both lost their 11-man football debuts Friday night. Beachside dropped a 36-19 game to second-year program Tocoi Creek, while Impact moved the ball effectively but committed six turnovers in a 20-6 defeat against Harvest Community.
Still, both teams got on the board for the first time.
Impact got its touchdown on a scoring pass to Kelly from eighth-grader Hans Price against Harvest. Aldrich scored Beachside's first-ever touchdown in the second quarter of the Tocoi Creek rivalry to be known as the Surf-N-Turf Bowl, grabbing a Barracudas TD pass from quarterback Brick Balcita.
Around the area
Bolles senior offensive lineman Cooper Fordham committed to Louisiana football. ... St. Johns Country Day senior Jacob Thomas committed to the University of North Florida for baseball. ... Creekside outfielder Alex Calabro committed to West Georgia baseball. ... Union County announced two softball commitments, with shortstop Leah Clark committing to the College of Central Florida and center fielder Angela Tucker selecting West Georgia. ... Former Bartram Trail middle blocker Alexia Kuehl, now at Colorado, won the Pac-12 volleyball defensive player of the week award after recording 22 blocks and 23 kills at the Buffs Invitational. ... Fort White announced its inaugural class of athletic hall of fame inductees, consisting of former coaches Mike Hunter, Charles Moore and John Wilson as well as former state champions Kacey Carter and A.J. Legree. ... Clay was presented Friday with the Clay County Ascension St. Vincent Cup as the top overall athletic program in the county for 2021-22.
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Bishop Kenny High School volleyball wins 2022 season opener
